Half-Breed
by Tamerhelm85
Summary: AU. Everyone believes Eragon is just an ordinary soldier in the Varden, but only Eragon knows he is not. His sister is Angela, their mother is the elf Selena, and their father was the legendary Brom. Eragon and Angela are half-breeds, and that is a race hated to a horrible extent. When Eragon is discovered, he and his family must run from the Varden, dwarves, elves, and the Empire.
1. Eragon the Half-Breed

**A/N: AU. Everyone believes Eragon is just an ordinary soldier in the Varden, but only Eragon knows he is not. His sister is Angela, his mother Selena is an elf, and his father was the legendary Brom. Eragon and Angela are half-elves, and all races in Alagaesia hate half-breeds; everyone except the elf Arya…**

**Disclaimer: Nope**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

"Evan, get your lazy arse over here!" His commander shouted.

"Yes sir!" Eragon shouts back. Eragon hated being ordered around. If they knew what he truly was, they would cower in fear before him. Then they would try to kill him. The only reason he was with the Varden was because it was his best chance to kill Galbatorix, and the reason he wanted Galbatorix dead was for revenge. Galbatorix had killed his father Brom right before his eyes at the Battle of Doru Araeba, and Eragon needed revenge. His mother was with him at the Varden, and both were in the disguise of a human.

His mother played the act of his sister, as neither of them aged. His mother was over four-hundred years old, while Eragon was one-hundred and fifty-six. Eragon had to act like a human, which meant no magic, no speed, no strength, and no pointy ears.

If anybody knew, especially elves, that he was a half-elf he would be killed on the spot. Everybody would hate him, excluding his mother and sister of course. Every race in Alagaesia thought half-breeds like him were an abomination to the world, so of course half-breeds were either incredibly rare or they were really good at hiding themselves.

Eragon had been with the Varden since the Battle of Doru Araeba, and he watched as his mother founded the Varden and did the unthinkable. Every human thought that since his mother was a woman that she was measly and weak; how wrong they were. His mother had fought with him during the Battle of Doru Araeba and the Battle for Ilirea. And thankfully during both battles Eragon had disguised himself as an elf, and his mother fought in her real form.

And none of the battles that Eragon had participated in during his time with the Varden were even close to those two battles. The Battle of Doru Araeba was a battle like no other. Magic never seen before was unleashed then, and he had watched as the island itself was changed drastically.

The Battle for Ilirea was different. Not as much magic was unleashed, but it was more so of the death.

Eragon had visited Ilirea dozens of times before the Fall, and its glory was incomparable to none other than Vroengard. He had watched as thousands of elves and men alike were slaughtered. And one of Eragon's friends had died in the battle, and that was King Evandar. King Evandar was one of the only people who knew what Eragon truly was, and he had accepted it. Hell he had welcomed it.

King Evandar had told him that all life, no mater what species, was precious. And Eragon had taken those words to heart, and believed in them ever since.

But King Evandar's last words were what bothered him. He had said, 'look over my little Arya for me, you have met her before. I have told her the same words I have told you. Watch over her, please, wiol eka.'

And Eragon had sworn in the Ancient Language. 'Upon my word as a half-elf I shall watch over her.'

And Eragon had. He had watched as Arya grew ever distant from her mother, and had taken the Yawe and left as an ambassador for the Elves. Eragon had taken the role as one of her guards, and had left with her.

Now that she was at the Varden camp, he had ample time to watch her. He had seen that she was distant from all others, and only spoke to the Varden's leader Nasuada. Eragon respected Nasuada as a leader, but nothing more. If she knew what he was he would be banished from the Varden immediately, no exceptions. He had met the Varden's leader a few times, and one of them wasn't a very pleasant meeting.

When Eragon was with his commander doing a mission, he had directly disobeyed his commander's orders and had done his own thing. Even though he had saved his entire regiment, he was still punished. Eragon was given two choices. One was to both leave the Varden and receive thirty lashes, or to stay with the Varden and receive fifty lashes. At first Eragon was about to say leave the Varden, but then Eragon remembered that his mother and sister would be alone, and that he wouldn't be able to watch over Arya.

So Eragon decided to stay with the Varden, and he had received fifty lashes. All of the Varden had been present, including Arya. He had told his mother not to watch, as she would be tempted to stop them. And so Eragon was whipped fifty times, and he kept his eyes on Arya the entire time.

When he was finished being whipped, everyone, including Arya, was surprised that he was still alive and still conscious. And then they were even more so surprised when he refused the offer of help to be healed with non-magical means. And so Eragon had walked to his tent alone, with his back mangled and the entire Varden watching him.

When he stumbled into his and his mother's tent she had immediately tried to heal him with magic, but he had told her not to as it would arouse suspicion.

The only other person in the entire Varden that knew what he was was his twin sister Angela. Angela had curly brown hair that always bounced around. When he had gone to her tent with his bandaged back, she had called him his nickname which was 'Blockhead'. She had healed him with her salves and poultices, but it hadn't healed him completely, she he stayed the night in her tent. Fortunately for him her tent was right next to his and his mother's, so he didn't need to walk very far at all.

Eragon walked over to his commander humanly, and Eragon always hated how slow humans walked.

"I need you to deliver a message to Nasuada for me," his commander told him. With that his commander handed him a sheet of folded up parchment and Eragon walked away in the direction of Nasuada's tent. When Eragon was fifteen feet away and out of human earshot he heard his commander say to himself, "thanks Angvard that idiot can't read."

He snorted; what an idiot. Of course Eragon could, and now that his commander had said that, it made him hate him even more. Eragon didn't bother to read it, as it was probably totally unimportant, so Eragon walked off in the direction of Nasuada's tent.


	2. Discovery and Escape

**A/N: Thanks to you reviewers who reviewed! I won't tell you if there will be ExA, just read this chapter and all shal be confirmed.**

**Disclaimer: No**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

When Eragon walked near Nasuada's tent, the Nighthawks eyed him warily. The Nighthawks consisted of two Urgals, two dwarves, and two humans and all would be intimidating to the ordinary human; except for the fact that Eragon was no ordinary human, so no, they didn't scare him in the slightest.

All six of them started straight into his eyes for a full thirty seconds, until a human asked, "What is your intent here?"

"I've been ordered to deliver a message to Lady Nasuada." He responded.

The two Urgals moved their spears aside and he took that as permission to enter. He shook his head and walked into the large tent. He didn't expect there to be a meeting in progress when he entered, so he was slightly surprised. Eragon noticed Arya was sitting down, and it looked like she wasn't paying attention. But Eragon knew it was quite the opposite. From what he knew about her, and he knew quite a bit, was that she was actually paying close attention but didn't want others to know.

So when Eragon walked inside all eyes turned towards him.

"What is it soldier?" Nasuada asked. Eragon didn't bother to bow, and he could tell that it irked her and several other men quite a bit, but they said nothing.

"I've been ordered to deliver an important message to you." He tossed the note on the table in front of her. Now almost everyone was giving him seething looks, as he was not respecting their commander very much. Well, everyone except Arya who was eyeing him curiously.

Eragon began to walk out of the tent, but Nasuada raised her hand and said, "Wait." So Eragon did.

He watched as Nasuada picked up the note and unfolded it. He watched her eyes move with his enhanced elvin vision, and then he saw her reread the note again, and again.

"Guards!" She abruptly shouted, and it made him jump ever so slightly. The Nighthawks came rushing into the tent.

"Yes my Lady?" One of the humans asked.

Nasuada pointed to Eragon, and before he had a chance to say or do anything, she said, "restrain him."

And suddenly Eragon was being pushed against the table by two Urgals.

With his limited vision he could many of the council were on their feet.

"I haven't done anything! What have I done?!" Eragon shouted.

"You have existed." He heard Nasuada reply simply.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Eragon said, feigning indifference.

"Don't play coy with me _half-breed._" Nasuada spit out the word, and as soon as it left her lips, men were standing up, shouting for him to be killed.

"I haven't done anything!" Eragon shouted.

"No, the question is what haven't you done? Now tell me who knows of your existence, so I may kill them too." She asked.

_I will never tell them!_ He thought. Then he remembered his magic and mental contact.

_Angela, Mother! I have been discovered, they know I am a half-elf!_ He shouted towards them.

He heard Angela start swearing, but then she said. _We will be there shortly._

Eragon sent them the equivalent of a mental nod then asked out loud. "Living or dead?"

"Let's start with the dead first shall we?" Nasuada said coolly.

And so Eragon began. "Brom, Rider of Saphira." He heard everybody gasp. Brom was a legend in Alagaesia, as everybody had thought he had slain a Shade. In truth it was Eragon who had slain the Shade, but if everybody knew that it was he, it would only draw attention to him.

"And we thought Brom was a legend. Turns out he was a fool." He heard the general Jormundr spit.

"My father was not a fool!" Eragon shouted, enraged.

Everybody was silent until Nasuada said, "So it would seem Brom was no hero after all, considering he created an abomination on this world."

Eragon growled, but said nothing to that remark. "King Evandar of the Elves."

He heard a woman gasp, "My father knew who you were?"

Eragon chuckled despite the situation he was in. "Yes he did, and he was one of the only people in Alagaesia who appreciated what I am. He told me, 'All life, no matter what race, may you be Urgal, werecat, or even a half-elf such as yourself, is precious.' And for that, I respected him."

"Then he was a fool. How old are you?" Nasuada asked with venom in her voice.

"I am one-hundred and fifty six." Eragon said monotonously.

"And who are you?"

"My name is Eragon Shadeslayer." Arya gasped again, as his name was after the very first of the dragon riders. "I fought against the Wyrdfell at Doru Araeba and watched Galbatorix kill my father. I fought at the Battle for Ilirea, and King Evandar died in my arms. My mother Selena brought the rebels up, and created the Varden. My mother has been with the Varden ever since it's creation, while I was… elsewhere." He said, not wanting to announce to the council that he was mostly watching Arya grow up. Everyone was surprised at his words, but none said anything.

"Elsewhere where?" Nasuada asked.

"And that," Eragon said with laughter in his voice, "is something you shall never know."

"Hit him!" The leader of the Varden cried, and he felt the flat of a blade swing through the air. But a clang of steel rang out, and he realized that someone blocked the blade. "Arya what are you doing?!" Nasuada cried.

"My father was no fool and he has done nothing!" Arya cried to Nasuada.

"It is an abomination to this world! It must be killed!" Nasuada shouted.

"But _he_ has done nothing!" Arya said again, putting emphasis into the word. She was obviously defending the fact that Eragon was a living being, not an 'it'. He could feel Nasuada was about to say something, but Angela, Solembum, and his mother burst into the tent.

Angela grabbed her dwarven huthvir, and said, "Release my brother, or die!"

Everybody in the tent was surprised to say the least. "So Brom created two abominations, interesting…" He heard Nasuada say.

"Let go of my son now, and we will leave peacefully." His mother commanded.

Cries of protest against her words rang out through the council. Then they all silenced by his mother shouting, "Hljödhr!" Silence! "We gave you a chance to release my son, and you have made a mistake."

And he heard the man holding him slack, and then fall to the ground. Eragon spun around and jumped back to gather his bearings. Five of the Nighthawks were already dead, and Arya… wasn't doing anything.

"Blockhead run!" His sister shouted. Eragon nodded and smiled. It would be the first in a while that he would be able to run as fast as he could. He burst out of the tent, and saw that Angela and his mother were following him closely.

_We need to go to the tent, Brisingr is there. _Eragon told his family. Brisingr was his father's rider sword, and he would never leave it behind. His family gave him their consent, and he put on another burst of speed towards the tent.

Bursting in, he flipped the bed and grabbed the long sword which was wrapped in a blanket. Unwrapping it, he pulled it out and belted it to his belt. He hurriedly grabbed supplies and stuffed them into a pack. He ran out of the tent, and his mother, sister, and Solembum were standing guard.

Eragon grabbed their two horses, Snowfire and Cadoc, and his mother and Solembum got on Cadoc, while he and his sister got on Snowfire.

"Ganga!" He shouted to the horses, and they immediately ran northwards.

Two weeks before the Varden had won the Battle of the Burning Plains, and so they were now directly east of Feinster yet on the opposite side of the river.

Most of the Varden had heard that the half-breed was escaping, and they were giving chase to them. Looking ahead, a hundred men with spears were blocking their path.

_Dammit!_ He cried in his mind.

Pointing his palm towards the group of men, he shouted, "Taka nosu gata!" Give us passage!

Dazedly, the men started moving aside and created a line where they could pass through. The horses dashed through the gap, and when they had passed, Eragon released the spell.

Several times men tried to catch up with Eragon and his family, but they couldn't ride faster than Snowfire and Cadoc. His family had had Snowfire and Cadoc for the past one hundred and fifty years, and had been using spells to keep them alive and healthy. Lately Eragon had also put enchantments on them to make the ride faster and harder, thus the reason no one could catch up with them.

And after a few minutes and several lucky escapes with arrows, they finally neared the ravine that marked the border of the Varden camp. It was a ten foot wide ravine, and Eragon wasn't very confident that the horses could make it with their weight.

When they neared within five feet of the ravine, Eragon cried, "Audr!" And the horses leapt into the air, and cleared the jump with ten feet to spare. They were finally out of the Varden camp.

**A-R-Y-A**

She cursed herself again. Why hadn't she recognized him for who he was? She didn't hate Eragon or his family for what they had done and who they were, she didn't care what Eragon was really. Her father told her the exact same thing he had told Eragon, 'All life, no matter what race, may you be Urgal, werecat, or even a half-elf, is precious.' And she had never forgotten those words, even though she was only five years old when she heard them.

She treated every creature in Alagaesia with respect and honor, even if they were an Urgal. She had killed all kinds of beings before, but only because they were a threat. Arya treated innocent life with kindness, not disrespect.

And it was those words that she was thinking when she was sitting in Nasuada's tent, chained to the chair. She steeled herself, as Nasuada was waiting for her mother to enter the view of the scrying mirror.

When her mother walked into view, she looked at Arya with annoyance, as if she didn't have time for her own daughter. Then she noticed that Arya was chained to the chair, and her eyes narrowed.

"Queen Islanzadi, I have something to share with you." Nasuada began. "One of our soldiers in the Varden is a half-elf." At these words her mother turned angry, as elves hated half-elves most of all. "His commander told me of his suspicions, and when I had the half-elf restrained he confirmed it. His name is Eragon Shadeslayer, and his father was the dragon rider Brom, and his mother is the elf Selena." And so Nasuada told her of what Eragon had said, but she stopped at the part where Arya had defended Eragon.

"And so Arya would like to tell you the rest." Nasuada said with an evil smile.

Arya glared at Nasuada, before saying, "Nasuada ordered one of her guards to hit Eragon with a sword, and I defended him."

Her mother turned even angrier. "How could you defend such a monster!? It is an abomination to this world and deserves to be killed!"

Arya kept a cool demeanor. "'All life, no matter what race, may you be Urgal, werecat, or even a half-elf is precious,'" she quoted.

"Your father was killed for thinking such things, in case you have not forgotten what Galbatorix is..." Her mother said.

"Father was not killed by Eragon! Father respected all life, no matter what heritage they had or what race they belonged to!" She shouted to the queen.

Queen Islanzadi started at her icily before turning to Nasuada, "What punishment do you have planned for her?"

"Execution for defending a half-breed." Nasuada said with a smile. She hated these people.

"Execution? Isn't that quite extreme?" Her mother asked. So her mother did have feelings for her.

"She defended an abomination on this world!" Nasuada shouted to the queen.

Her mother had a strange expression on her face, before asking, "Whom did you lose?"

So that was it! She knew all races, elves especially hated half-breeds, as they were unpure in the world. Her mother had shown her something a long time ago on that.

_"Now Arya, look at this map of Alagaesia." Her mother instructed, and so she looked at the map in front of her. "Now look." Her mother waved her hand and small white dots appeared on the map, but large clusters of them were formed in cities. "All of these white dots represents living beings in Alagaesia, now look." Her mother said something again, and black dots appeared on the map. "The black dots represent half-breeds; look at how they stain the map and the_ _living beings. Half-breeds are a mark upon this world, and they must be exterminated."_

__Her mother had tried to drill into her head the half-breeds were filthy and undeserving of life. She had always discarded those words.

"My mother was killed by a half-breed, and I grew up without her." Nasuada responded with moisture in her eyes.

"I understand, my mate was killed by a half-breed, and I think all half-breeds should be killed as well, but not my daughter." Her mother said.

Nasuada nodded. "I understand, thank you." And with that, the spell vanished and Nasuada rounded on her. "Now, your execution will be held within the next day." The bitch! She lied to her mother!

**A-N-G-E-L-A**

It had come. Angela knew that he day would come when the Varden discovered that they were half-elves. She hated the Varden now, as they had tried to kill her brother.

And it was now that she listened to Eragon, "We need to rescue Arya."

_What!? Wait… what!?_ "What are you talking about?" Their mother asked.

"She defended me, and now she'll be killed," Eragon replied simply. Angela smiled inwardly and pressed her mind against her mothers.

_I think Eragon is falling in love with his elf. _She told her mother.

Her mother smiled in her mind. _Yes, and to be honest I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner since he's been watching her for a hundred years._

Angela sighed; it would seem they had no choice but to rescue her from the Varden, even though they just escaped.

"Alright, what's the plan?"


	3. Rescued by Evan

**A/N: Wow, I already got eleven reviews and I put this up less than 24 hours ago, wow. So thank you reviewers for doing your job. This story just flows through my hands and out onto the word document; it's really cool actually. And don't talk to me about how I put Du Gata Vrangr, read the chapter. And yes, I will most definitely put in Roran, and maybe Oromis and Glaedr. On the matter of Saphira... well we'll get to that later shall we?****  
**

**Disclaimer: It's John's... I said it wasn't mine**

**A-R-Y-A**

A man prodded her in the back with a dull spear, creating yet another bruise upon her skin. She was being led to the center of the Varden to be executed, and it disgusted her to see people cheering. Nasuada had told them of how Eragon was a half-breed, and they all started cursing his entire family to the void. When she told the Varden that Arya had defended him, they became even more enraged.

As weak as Du Gata Vrangr was (she refused to call it Du Vrangr Gata, as it was grammatically incorrect), they managed to strip her of all of her wards, so she was defenseless.

She saw the platform getting closer, and the noose was hanging there, waiting to hang its next victim. A large crowd had gathered around the platform, and they were all cheering for death.

The soldier hit her again with the dull spear, simply for amusement.

She tried to kill him with one of the twelve death words, but she forgot the word, and it was on the tip of her tongue. And no matter how hard she tried to remember one it always escaped her. _I must've been drugged._ She thought.

Keeping her dignity, she walked towards the platform with her held high, and her eyes kept straightforward. Arya wondered why people hated half-breeds. They weren't abominations, they were living beings. Her father had seen that too, and she wished he was alive and that she had to chance to get to know him better.

All too soon, the platform was in front of her, and she walked up the stairs, ignoring all of the cheers of the Varden, elves, and dwarves. Nasuada was standing at the front of the platform, facing the rope to have a front row seat.

Just when her head was about to go through the rope, Nasuada raised her hand and called for silence. "Good people of the Varden!" She shouted. "This elf, Arya the elves ambassador protected a half-breed when we tried to attack him. And now I give you one last option to live Arya. Do. You. Repent?"

"Never!" Arya spitted out. She would not shame her father like that.

Nasuada nodded, "So be it." And with a wave of her hand, the wood beneath her opened up and she fell.

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

Eragon went over the plan in his head again and again. Even though it was simple and efficient, Eragon was worried it wouldn't work.

Eragon was supposed to enter the Varden camp invisible and then follow the crowd the center of the Varden where Arya was being executed. From there Eragon had to improvise… heavily.

He watched as a man hit her in the back with a dull spear, just for the fun of it. He growled and followed the group parallel through the crowd, and when she was placed in front of the noose, Nasuada held up her hand for silence.

. "Good people of the Varden!" She shouted. "This elf, Arya the elves ambassador protected a half-breed when we tried to attack him. And now I give you one last option to live Arya. Do. You. Repent?"

"Never!" Arya shouted to the leader.

"So be it." Nasuada said in a cold tone. With a wave of her hand, the man pulled the lever and the wood beneath Arya fell open. But by then it was too late; Eragon had already drawn his elvin bow and released an arrow towards the rope above her head. True to his aim, the arrow pierced the rope and Arya fell through the hole without her neck being broken.

Before anyone could realize what was going on, Eragon was already dashing over to the platform. When he reached within five feet, he dived under it and grabbed Arya who was still confused.

He grabbed her forearm and pulled her out from underneath the platform. When they crawled out, many of the Varden were aiming arrows at them, but Eragon had expected this.

His sister Angela appeared out of nowhere and began swinging her huthvir in a circle like pattern. Men and horses fell down, and Eragon hauled Arya to her feet and they ran north through the camp. Arrows whizzed by him, and he placed wards on Arya as he assumed she was wardless.

Turning around to check for his sister's safety, he saw that she was following him not ten feet behind him. Solembum was by her side in cat form with his ears pressed against his head, hissing at everybody they passed.

"Quick, on the horses!" Eragon shouted. Arrows and spears came towards them, but they all bounced off their wards. They had only brought Snowfire with them, as a man leading two horses through the camp would be entirely too suspicious. Arya ran towards Snowfire, and leaped onto the horse from behind. Angela did the same, and Solembum just leaped up there.

"Blockhead come on!" Angela shouted at him, waving for him to come.

Eragon shook his head, realizing their mistake. "Snowfire can't hold four, I'll cover you. Ganga!" And Snowfire reared upwards, and galloped northward while Angela and Arya screamed protests.

Drawing Brisingr, Eragon faced the Varden. They quickly encircled him and aimed spears in his direction. The leader of the Varden walked through the mass on her horse, which he recalled was named Battle-Storm. She smiled strangely towards him.

"So it would seem the half-breed came back for the little elf?" Nasuada asked mockingly.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Eragon asked honestly with a smile on his face. _It shouldn't be too hard to get out of here._

"Well it depends on –", Nasuada started. But was interrupted with a cry of "Brisingr!"

Flames burst in a circle around Eragon, and Eragon only smiled. The men who were holding spears towards him backed away, but still remained strong.

"You see," Eragon said conversationally. "When fire is brought into the air or more so the particles in fire are brought into the air, it changes the air which can easily result many things. If you compress the air near the fire, and depending on the size of the fire, an explosion will occur. You may have heard of the massive explosion near Aberon a few years ago?" Some of them nodded. "Sorry about that; I had just created it and I decided to give it a try." Most of the people surrounding Eragon had feared looks on their faces, and they started retreating slowly.

"Now let's see that explosion first hand, shall we?" Eragon asked politely. "Audr!" And Eragon flew upwards into the air. "Letta." He said and he stopped in the middle of the air.

"Aiming his right palm downwards, he cried, "Thrysta du vindr!" Compress the air! The air formed together, and then the fire and air merged, and then it went…well, kaboom. Fire and air came together, and grey-black clouds exploded in all directions. The fire in between the clouds made it seem like it was a volcano, which were common on Vroengard.

Men ran for their lives, and Eragon wondered if he was a bit _too_ cruel. But then he remembered that they wouldn't have spared him had they had the chance.

Before the smoke and fire could reach him he made sure his back was to the north and he shouted, "Aptr!" Immediately he was pushed backward through the open air northward.

**A-R-Y-A**

She was alive and well. She was alive. And Arya still couldn't get over that; the fact that she was saved by the person who she had saved. But she wished he was there so she could thank him. Arya and Eragon's sister Angela had ridden on Snowfire for about an hour and a half before stopping in a small clearing that showed signs of habitation. Angela and Eragon's mother, Selena was there pacing back and forth, obviously worried for her children.

So when Angela, Arya, and Solembum walked into the clearing, a large smile came upon Selena's face. But it faded quickly when she realized that Eragon was not with them.

Crestfallen, Selena asked, "Where is Eragon?"

"Oh, the Blockhead decided to stay and cover us, since Snowfire couldn't hold four." Angela replied with a smile.

Selena smiled back; apparently they were both confident in Eragon's skills. She wondered how good Eragon was to escape the entire Varden. And even though Du Gata Vrangr was utterly pathetic, all of them combined with the might of the Varden might be too difficult for Eragon.

Seeing the look on Arya's face, Angela reassured her. "Oh relax Arya. He's been in much more difficult situations, and you can't really compete against breaking out of Uru'baen can you," Angela said with a laugh.

"Uru'baen?! What did he do to get captured and put into Uru'baen?" Arya asked frantically.

"Nothing really; Eragon was captured by a Shade named Durza. Durza wasn't too much of a match for Eragon, but he snuck up on him… like a hamster!"

_Durza! So Eragon was captured by Durza too?_ Memories of Gil'ead assailed her, but she forced them away.

"And so anyway, they brought him before Galbatorix." And suddenly, Angela's tone turned malicious and full of hate. "And since Durza figured out that Eragon was a half-breed, Galbatorix figured Eragon might know something useful." And Arya knew what was coming next. She had been captured and taken to Gil'ead and tortured. And all the while she had thought of her two elf-friends Glenwing and Evan. She had grown romantic feelings for Evan, but he had died before she could voice them, and that was one of her biggest regrets.

"And what was even worse was the fact that Durza went to Gil'ead, as he had another prisoner to torture. And so Eragon was left to the king's mercy. I cannot tell you of the horrors Eragon faced there, as he has told us none of them, but the scars on his body are a testament to that."

Arya didn't recall seeing scars on any part of his body that she had seen. "I did not notice that Eragon had scars on his body."

Selena laughed mirthlessly, "It's called magic dear. One cannot go traipsing around the Varden camp with scars all over their body can they?"

"No, I suppose not. So how did he escape?" Arya asked intrigued.

"By himself, as we had no idea that he had been captured. Eragon said – actually, he shared a memory of it." Angela said. And suddenly, a mind was touching hers, asking for entrance. Since it was Angela, she let the half-elf in.

Finally!_ I thought. Torture was done for the day, and every day I cheered in my mind at the thought. Two lone guards were dragging me with their hands wrapped around my elbows to my cell. But why was I cheering when torture would then begin the very next day? At first the loss of Glenwing was a lot to take in, but I came over it. But no, I would not, not this day. I will not endure it anymore. _

_ So I lived up to the name Blockhead, and elbowed one of the men holding me in his heart, and his armor caved and he fell to the ground. Before the other guard had time to react, I curled up my fingers and aligned them with my knuckles. Bringing my hand back, I bashed in the guards nose with the butt of my palm. _

_ Ignoring the pain going through my body, I ran down one corridor and the hallway contained a lone sentry whose back was facing me. Every so silently, I ran up to him and wrapped him in a chokehold._

_ "Where is the elf?" I asked menacingly, and every man would quail beneath it, but this man was not in the best position to quail. I repeated my question and loosened my grip on him._

_ "She's… in Gil'ead." The guard sputtered out. _Gil'ead; dammit how am I supposed to get there?

_ I dropped the guard to the ground and stomped on the man's face. All of the other men I met were killed silently and dragged out of sight. _I imagined Uru'baen would be a lot more heavily guarded, _I thought to my self._

_ And that was when I noticed it. A large mosaic window was on the opposite side of the corridor. And so by checking left, right, and left again I dashed to the other side as fast as possible. Smashing a hole large enough to fit myself, I reached my head through the window. It was a fifty drop to the ground, and that was too high for my standards. But then I noticed a large cart of hay roughly ten feet in front of the wall. _

Oh, I am such a Blockhead.

_ And with that said, I jumped out of the window._

"See? You really can't beat it." Angela said. It didn't make any sense to Arya. Eragon was captured by Durza, as was she. Durza left for Gil'ead as he had a prisoner to torture. Eragon thought of Glenwing's death as if was there. And then Eragon asked where the 'elf' was, and the guard said that _she_ was in Gil'ead. It didn't make any sense, Evan couldn't be Eragon, could he?

**A/N: Now if you guys aren't stupid and you've read _Eragon_ then you would know that Eragon went by the alias 'Evan'. -_- and if you still haven't pieced 16 and 42 together then wait until the next chapter.**


	4. Memory: Arya Meets Evan

**A/N: Hamsters are sneaky aren't they? Yes Chapter 4 is here. Thanks to reviewers, and somebody actually asked me if the blowy-uppy thing was possible, and I said yes. And it is! Originally, I started writing this chapter in Eragon's ****P-O-V****, but totally couldn't get it down. Just thought you should know. And something else I forgot to mention earlier; half-breeds **(That sounds kind of mean) **powers are enhanced, as they have the combined blood of two races, and they don't need a lot of sleep.**

** This chapter is mostly a memory chapter. A memory chapter is a vital chapter in the story, and it revolves around one person's memories. Such as first meetings, important events, battles (yes I might try the Battle for Ilirea or the Battle of Doru Araeba), etc. So don't skip these, besides, this one is full of ExA ;)**

**Disclaimer: I have an honest question that I would like to be answered. How long has Dora the Explorer been six years old? IC is not mine.**

**A-R-Y-A**

_Evan. Eragon. Evan. Eragon. _She thought, as she was still utterly bewildered at the entire concept. Eragon did look remarkably similar to Evan, yet Evan had dark black hair, but as Eragon's mother said, 'magic'. But she still couldn't grasp her mind around the fact that Eragon could be Evan, the one she developed love for.

Arya wondered what her mother would think about this situation. She would most likely become insanely angry with the Varden for Nasuada's choice, and then round on Arya. She had always been the prime subject for their arguments. Her mother had always complained that she should act more like a princess, not a warrior. It was true; every day since Arya had been seven years old she had gone outside and practiced alone. And that was when she met Evan, one day when she was twelve.

* * *

Her mother and Arya had gotten into yet another argument about something stupid and petty. Arya stormed out of Tialdari Hall and to the training grounds, which were surprisingly empty. Determined to clear her mind, she drew her thin silver blade and began to practice the movements that her father had begun to teach her. Granted, theses movements were only minute blocking, parrying, and attacking skills, but Arya practiced them every day in honor of her father. And soon, she had been overwhelmed with memories. She thought back to every argument she and her mother had, every fight, every command. And as her mood grew darker and darker, so did her maneuvers. She began to slash wildly yet gracefully, and it was on one downwards strike that her blade hit another's.

Before her with his own brilliant blue sword raised was an elf. His black hair was not as dark as hers, or as long as any of the other elves, as it usually went past their shoulders. No, his hair hung around the ears and it gave him a more attractive appearance. His chocolate brown eyes stared deep into hers, and he smiled a crooked smile. The elf looked to be around twenty, but she knew elves were immortal so he could be from Alalea for all she knew. But she highly doubted it.

"I saw you swinging your sword around like a madman, and I thought you might need some assistance," the elf said with a smile.

Arya, who was happy to talk to someone besides her mother, said to him, "And while I thank you on that regard, I do not think you know who I am."

The elf raised an eyebrow, and he seemed genuinely surprised. "Really, who are you?"

"Arya Drottningu," she had said to him, expecting him to apologize profusely for his rash actions and then walk away with his pride damaged, but he did no such things. If anything he smiled wider.

"Yes I know that quite well actually." He said with a chuckle.

"As much as I desire friendly company, if my mother sees you interacting with me then she will… well I honestly don't know but it won't be good." She said grimly.

"Thanks for the warning, but I'll pass. I don't think Queen Islanzadi can hurt me," the elf said with his arms wide open, as if embracing a challenge. Arya was surprised at his confidence, yet also saddened. While he appeared happy on the outside, it looked like he was a having a battle, no, a war on the inside. He looked like a person who had seen too much war and it had forever scarred his soul.

She wondered if he fought at the Battle of Doru Araeba or the Battle for Ilirea, or maybe both. She had never even learned of what happened then, only that all of the riders had been exterminated. She mused over herself, as she had used the exact same word that her mother had used when half-breeds came into topic. Her mother and just about every elf in Ellesmera had refused to speak about the battles, and by their eyes she could tell that they hadn't even participated in them, only grieved.

"I admire you for your confidence, but you have no idea what she is capable of," Arya responded with a shaky tone. Just two days previous when Islanzadi had been trying to drill into her head that half-breeds were abominations, and deserved to be treated as such, Arya had defended her father. She had said that half-breeds were life, no matter the race, and deserved to be treated with respect. The Queen had slapped her in the face. Her mother had hit her with full elvin force, and thus the reason it hurt more. The left side of her face had turned a dark purple color and was bruised horribly and it hurt every time she talked. And to make matters worse, her mother had ordered everybody within the hall not heal Arya's face, even if Arya ordered them too.

The elf's eyes darkened with anger, and then he eyed the enormous bruise on the side of her face. "She hit you?" He asked with a venomous tone. Arya had just met this elf, yet she felt as if she had met him before and had known him for several years. And yet, she herself was surprised when she nodded slowly in answer to her question. If anything, the elf's eyes darkened even more with rage.

As light as a feather, the mysterious elf put a hand to her face and murmured, "Waíse heill." It wasn't her first time being healed, but it was the first in a while. Yet, his magic was different; it was not the insane itching urge that usually came with it. It was lighter, and sweeter. It was calm, and kind. And above all, it was loving and respectful. Not once in the past eight years had Arya been touched with such love, and even though she barely knew the elf, she had a connection with him. It was not 'love at first sight'. It was more over something along the lines of, 'connection at first sight'. She reveled in his loving touch, and slightly leaned into it.

And all too soon, the elf pulled his hand away and inspected her face. Then he smiled, but it was clearly hiding the rage. "There, good as new! And may I ask; why were you only performing basic sword moves?"

Arya answered quickly and sadly, "I haven't been taught any more than that."

The elf gave her a sad smile, as if he understood what was happening with her and why. And it was true; every time after Arya had an argument with her mother she came to the training ground and practiced the moves her father had taught her years before.

Then the elf smiled broadly, as if he had thought of something. "Well we'll have to fix that won't we?"

"Do you really mean…?"

"Yes, I will teach you. But like other teachers, I have rules." She groaned slightly, but it did not go unnoticed by the elf. "Rule number one: Do not call me elda, it makes me sound old. Rule number two: Do not call me ebrithil; I am your teacher not your master. And rule number three: You must always smile!"

And his words did his intent, and she smiled and laughed. "Meet me here tomorrow after you eat dinner, I'll be here. But if you ever need me earlier, just say my name, and I'll come." He began to walk away, but Arya realized something.

"Wait! What is your name?"

"Er – Evan, you may call me Evan." He responded.

And with that, she made her first and only friend in her life. It was then that Arya's romantic feelings had begun, but she only fully realized them twenty years later.

But when she went back to Tialdari Hall with a smile on her face, many of the elvin lords looked disturbed by her appearance, but said nothing. When the dinner bell rang throughout the hall, she skipped through the halls towards the banquet area. Not even the prospect of seeing her mother could destroy her mood, or so she thought.

When she skipped into the hall and took her seat, she did not notice the strange looks the other elves were giving her. Most of them were not used to such public displays of emotion, and were obviously uncomfortable with it. But Arya paid no heed to them, and began to wait for her mother.

When her mother had walked in the room, she did not look at Arya once, but when they 1/4th through the meal, she finally did, and her eyes reeled in anger.

"Who healed you?" The tone her mother used was so cool and cruel that it took all of her might not to quail and curl up into a ball. When she failed to answer, her mother repeated the question, but with more force. And suddenly Arya felt her mind being driven into, and her mother examined the memories of recent events. Arya managed to hide nothing but one thing from her mother, and that was the part where Evan had said that all she had to do was call his name, and he would be there.

When her mother had successfully ripped _most_ of the memory from her mind, she was seething, "I forbid you to go anywhere near that elf again! You are lucky I am not hunting him down and punishing him!" Her words were not loud, but very cold and harsh. Arya only nodded in fear, and scoot away from her mother as far as she could on her chair. Quite a few of the elves had noticed that Arya's face was healed, but they only gave her seething looks.

And so when dinner was finally over, Arya rushed from the room and ran to her own. Becoming her own twelve-year-old self, she crawled under the blankets and began to cry herself to sleep.

Arya's eyes opened, and she saw it was probably midnight. Grumbling, Arya attempted to go back to sleep, but sleep would not take her. She was just so…so…lonely. She needed a friend, and the only one she had was Evan. Then she remembered Evan's words, 'Just say my name and I'll come.'

But would he come? It was so late in the night; Evan was probably asleep at the time. But Arya need someone, and the only someone would be him. Even if Arya had known him for only a few hours, she felt like she had known him for years.

Putting those thoughts aside, she whispered the name, "Evan." And a burst of wind came through the open window, and brushed back her long raven hair. And standing in the window way was Evan, and he did not even look sleepy! Did he ever sleep?

He walked over to her gently and kneeled down so he was several inches lower than her. "What's the matter?" And the way he asked it, it seemed like her father was back and caring for her again, but it wasn't.

"My mother came into my mind and hurt me," Arya said. And what more could she say; she was a broken twelve-year-old who was broken by her mother.

The same rage came into his eyes, before he tenderly said, "Do not worry little one, go to sleep. I shall be here." And so she fell asleep in his arms, and when she woke up, she was in her bed and Evan was nowhere to be seen.

And so for the next nine years it continued on like this. She would see him at lunchtime, as only breakfast and dinner was she required to eat with her mother. From lunchtime to dinnertime, the two spent their time together. Then after dinner she came to a separate clearing a ways away from the Menoa Tree. And the walk was well worth it. One night Evan had snuck Arya out of her room and had taken her there to the clearing to stargaze. Then after they finished sparring at sunset every night, and she was always disappointed to be away from Evan. But then at midnight _every_ night, Arya had spoken his name and he had come in. Every night he rocked her gently until she slept, even when she became an adolescent. **(A/N: I mean adolescent by the fact that she has bodily grown since she was twelve.)**

And when she finally mustered up the courage to take the Yawe and be banished from Du Weldenvarden, Evan had come with her much to the disdain of her mother. And he had always been with her since.

* * *

And when she remembered the first meeting of the man she now loved, she couldn't stop the tears flowing from her eyes as she thought him dead. Holding her hands to her eyes, she leaned against a tree trunk and slid down it miserably. She couldn't help the sobs that wracked her body. Ever since her wake up in Farthen Dur she had avoided the thought of Evan, and now her resolve was crumbling.

She was glad she had secluded herself from the others before thinking of Evan, as she did not want to appear weak. Then an idea came to mind, and she leaped up in anticipation. And it all clicked.

She spoke the name of the only person that could help her; her hero since she was twelve years old. "Eragon," she whispered. And just like before, a gust of wind blew throughout the air, and in front of her, the one she had thought dead appeared in front of her. But something was not right; Eragon was swaying unsteadily on his feet. Before he could fall down she gently and slowly pulled him down to the ground.

When he quite ungracefully fell to the ground and moaned horribly, she began to be worried.

"Eragon!" Arya shouted. "Listen to me! Where does it hurt?"

In response to her question, he slowly moved his hand and placed it in the center of his torso. "Under the shirt?" Arya asked. Eragon nodded. She cringed at the thought of her taking off Eragon's shirt. Sure she had seen him shirtless before when they had gone swimming together, but this entirely too different. Deciding his life was more important than her petty worries, she grabbed her dagger and slashed open his burnt shirt.

_Burnt? What did Eragon do?_ She questioned herself.

When she saw what lay under his shirt and on his body, she growled in anger. His entire lower torso area had been burnt and was still smoldering.

_Help!_ She cried to Angela and Selena, they had to save him.

**A/N: So whaddya think? In all honesty, and I'm not trying to brag, but I think it's a heck of a let better than the Faolin back story we got from Paolini. Yeah, I really think I did good on the memory. Tell me if you liked the memory and if you want more. And yeah, the clearing where they stargazed is the one where Eragon professed his feelings to Arya in Eldest; I thought it would be pretty nice to do that.  
**

**Ok guys, I came up with an idea for memory chapters. I am going to post them as separate chapters, so they will not be my top priority as a chapter itself. I may do a flashback in some of the real chapters, but Memory Chapters are going to be seperate chapters.  
**


	5. A Talk With Friends

**A/N: Hello, this is Chapter 5…well that was obvious. I got eight reviews in the first two hours. Wow, thanks guys. So everyone gave me great reviews on the memory chapter, and I thought it was a nice touch as well. So I will put some in now and then, probably 5-8 chapters apart, unless you guys request less days. Some credit goes to Kenka for suggesting an amazing idea.**

**Cappa: You may call me Tam, and next time you may want to finish your review.**

**Vizual-Era: Next time try not to scream to the point where your mother hit you, although it is kinda strange that that happened to you and Arya.**

**Middleearthmidget: For Ch. 1: AU or no it's in Eragon's nature to be a Blockhead  
**

**Disclaimer: I am disappointed that nobody gave me an answer to Dora's age. Not mine**

**A-R-Y-A**

_Help!_ She cried to Angela and Selena, they had to save him.

The half-elf and Selena didn't bother to question her pleas, but they instead ran in the direction of her and Eragon. Placing her hands over the wounds, she said, "Waíse heill." It was the best she could do at the moment, as she did not want to try and heal him without knowing the extent of his injuries. That's what Angela was for. Angela had a strange reputation throughout the Varden, and she was known to speak random oddities at any time that took her fancy. Arya had visited her often, and they had become friends, but Angela did not tell her that she was a half-elf. Arya wouldn't have told anyone, but she could see why she didn't tell Arya. She had been living with her family her entire life, hiding away from the world in fear.

Eragon's wounds healed exponentially, and that was enough for Arya. Angela and Selena burst through the trees and into the area where the two were.

"Help him, please." She begged, and she did not notice the tears silently going down her face.

Angela nodded and bent over her brother. Arya turned her head away and tucked it into her arms. Cool arms wrapped around her body, and she looked up saw that Selena was cradling her, much like Eragon used to do to her. In fact, Selena was holding her the exact same way Eragon held her. She wondered if he got it from his mother.

She turned her head and tucked it into the crook of the elf's neck. "Why didn't he ever tell me? He knew that I didn't hate half-breeds," Arya asked through her tears.

The elf rubbed Arya on the back, much like a mother would. "Your father died in Eragon's arms, and with Evandar's dying breath he asked Eragon to watch over you." Arya couldn't help but gasp. "And so Eragon promised he would in the Ancient Language. Eragon knew who you were already, as one day when Angela, Brom, Eragon, and I came to Ellesmera Evandar introduced us to you. You were only three years old at the time so you probably don't remember it." Arya shook her head to signify that she didn't. "Eragon knew you didn't hate half-breeds, and I assume that he was probably going to tell you some time. Though I assume he did not because he didn't want your opinion of him to change."

"But it wouldn't have!" Arya protested.

"But Eragon did not know that, and so he was afraid of you," Selena told her calmly.

Arya was going to say something else, but Angela beat her to it. "Mother, I healed his wounds, but something is wrong with his body. He probably recreated the explosion he did near Aberon a few years ago. Such. A. Blockhead. The spell takes a _strange_ type of energy."

"What do we do?" Arya asked fearfully. She thought she lost Evan/Eragon once; she would not lose him again.

"I'm afraid that I cannot heal him," and Arya's heart sunk. "But Eldrian would be able to. And we will be able to rest here tonight." Eldrian, who was Eldrian?

"What do we do? Where is he?" Arya asked frantically.

Selena laughed, "Calm down child; the city where Eldrian resides is named Varnalond, or Safe Haven in the common tongue."

"I've never heard of such a city." Arya replied confused.

"Of course not, only half-breeds know of it." Angela said.

"Are you saying…?"

"Obviously; it's a city with only half-breeds. That's why nobody's ever heard of it. It has dwarf-elf breeds and human-Urgal breeds, although those are _incredibly_ rare. It has human-dwarf breeds, and it has human-elf breeds. It's a place where half-breeds can call home." Angela said reverently.

"And who is Eldrian?" Arya asked.

"He's probably the best healer in Alagaesia," Selena said.

"And just how many half-breeds live there?" Arya asked curiously.

"About five hundred or so. But half-breeds parents live there too, as they are considered a disgrace to Alagaesia as well. So I'd say around a thousand five hundred inhabitants." Angela said. _Five hundred!_ Five hundred half-breeds living in one place, and no one but half-breeds and their parents knew of it. Arya wondered if Evandar had ever visited it.

"And where is it? Varnalond I mean."

The two seemed hesitant to answer, and Arya understood why. "It is quite alright, you need not tell –"

"No," Selena interrupted. "We will tell you. However, you must know we do not part with this location lightly. Our city is on the island of Uden, as no one ever travels there. Not even the riders of old traveled there, they only traveled to Beirland, as that is where the floating crystal is."

Uden; she vaguely remembered the island from her studies, but there was no history behind it, or any that the elf's knew of. There was probably lots of history recorded there on the island considering it had roughly one thousand five hundred inhabitants and five hundred or so of them were half-breeds.

"So when are you leaving for Varnalond?" Arya asked.

Selena and Angela looked at each other for a moment, and then Angela said excitedly, "Well you're coming with us!"

Arya was shocked; they were going to let _her_, the daughter of Queen Islanzadi who was the queen of a race who hated half-breeds, into Varnalond? She didn't think they'd let her in.

"Oh relax child, they _will_ let you in," Selena said with a reassuring expression.

She was confused, "Why?"

"Because of Eragon!" Angela said chuckling. "He's not exactly going to let them hurt you. And besides, Eragon was the one who saved Varnalond from destruction when he killed the shade Ralatov. So they really will have to let you in. And another plus to it all, father found most or all of the half-breeds hiding in Alagaesia and led them to Uden. He and the half-breeds built Varnalond, so father is considered the hero of the half-breeds. And he did that all for Eragon and me, see what I mean?"

Arya nodded, and she definitely knew what she meant. Brom had gathered as many half-breeds and their parents as he could find just so he could build a safe haven for half-breeds and his two children. He really did a lot for his children.

Then there was a question Arya wanted to ask, but she felt it too personal. Angela saw her hesitant expression, "Oh go on, ask! We are best friends after all!" And that was true; Arya didn't have any other friends within the Varden besides Angela.

"Well…I was wondering how you coped with Brom's death…" Arya looked down shamefully. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Selena recovered from shock quickly. "It is quite alright. Well, let's see. For Angela and me we had each other, but Eragon wasn't with us."

"And where was he?" Arya asked.

Angela shrugged, "We don't really know. He disappeared after the Battle for Ilirea for seven years."

"Seven years." She whispered to herself. "Father died when I was five and I met Eragon when I was twelve." It made sense, but it only took about a month and a half to get from Ilirea to Ellesmera, so where was he?

Selena then spoke in a sad tone, "We believe that he was grieving for all he lost."

"Who did he lose besides Brom?" Arya asked interested.

Now Angela spoke and tears silently went down her face. "Eragon was a dragon rider." Arya gasped and her eyes went wide. "Eragon's dragon Saphira died protecting her own mother Saphira, Brom's dragon. Galbatorix was the one who killed both Saphira's, and Brom died attempting to get his revenge. Eragon was about to try to get his revenge for his dragon and his father, but we pulled him back and escaped Doru Araeba. We originally thought he had gone off and died, for when you lose your soul-partner, is destroys your very being."

Arya was angry at herself that she had asked the question in the first place. How could she have been so stupid?! "But what brought Eragon back out from…wherever he was?"

Selena smiled, "Six years and eight months into his disappearance, he mysteriously returned. He was a broken man, but one with a purpose. Eragon came into Varnalond and many were surprised at his appearance. He came up to us, told us what he was going to do, and set out."

"And what was he going to do?" Arya asked, although she had a feeling what it was.

"We believe that Eragon found his purpose, and decided to fulfill it to its fullest. For usually when a dragon and their rider are still alive they live for each other. But when one dies, they lose the will to live. But Eragon kept his will to live. And so set off with his purpose; to watch over you." Angela said with a smile. Arya smiled too.

"Wouldn't he being a dragon rider have attracted attention to himself?" Arya asked.

"Yes it would," Selena said. "But it helps when your father is a dragon rider who graduated fifty years earlier. So he taught Eragon. And eventually he even passed down his sword Brisingr."

"I see," and then another question from her childhood came to her. "Does Eragon sleep?"

Angela laughed in hatred, "No; he cannot sleep. If he did he would be plagued with the worst nightmares, ones that would terrify a thousand men until the day they die. Why do you ask by the way?"

"Oh, well, the very first day I met him," and she smiled before continuing. "He said that all I had to do was call his name, which he told me was Evan, and he would come. And since my mother had hit me two days earlier it had left a horrible bruise, and Eragon healed it. My mother had ordered no one to heal the bruise and she was furious that someone had healed it. She broke into my mind and looked through all but one of my memories. I managed to hide that part where I could call his name if I needed him. And so that night I cried myself to sleep. I awoke at midnight, and I could not go back to sleep and I was so lonely, and so I called his name. And there he was, at midnight, looking as if hadn't been asleep and felt no need to. And that was the first night of many that I slept in his arms." Arya ended her story with a smile at her memories.

Selena smiled; "And let me guess, you developed feelings for him?"

Arya blushed a little and looked down, "Yes… so?"

Angela laughed, "Good, and I suggest you act on them quickly."

She looked up and raised her frowned, "Why? I mean, why quickly?"

Selena looked towards her, "Eragon hasn't exactly been well of late. He has been sleeping more, and that is not good. Often times, we had to put wards around our tent to prevent others from hearing him scream. You don't know how horrible it is for a mother to have to watch one of her children suffer and you can do nothing about it."

Arya was still confused, "And how do I come into play into all this?"

Angela took it up from there. "Eragon will only live if he has something to live for, and revenge is not a good thing to live for."

"So you want me too…?" She asked trailing off, but her meaning got through.

Selena smiled reassuringly towards her, "Eragon lived once for you, he will do it again if you give him the chance."

Arya nodded her head; Eragon would not die. "I will, for me and for Eragon."

Angela clapped her hands excitedly, "Good! Now let's get some sleep before we start talking about Murtagh."

"Wait, who's Murtagh?!"

**A/N: Who is Murtagh indeed… well, of course I'm going to put Murtagh in here! And there is no MxN, but Murtagh does get with somebody. No need to worry. The word Varnalond comes from Tolkien's elvish, and it means Safe Haven. So anyway, for those of you who didn't read the Memory Chapter thing at the bottom of the last chapter, here it is. **

**I came up with an idea for memory chapters. I am going to post them as separate chapters, so they will not be my top priority as a chapter itself. I may do a flashback in some of the real chapters, but they will be a **_**lot**_** shorter but Memory Chapters will be separate chapter entirely. They'll be like a bonus chapter and will be totally dedicated to one event.**


	6. Sleepy Elf and Alalean Wood

**A/N: Hi! Thanks you guys for reviewing and thanks for those who are following and who favorite this story. This chapter has a little time-skip, and just to let you guys know; last chapter took place just south of the lone mountain north of Feinster.**

**Disclaimer: It's a Kodak moment *sob*. Anybody know who said that? Not mine.**

**A-R-Y-A**

Snowfire and Cadoc were riding even faster than elvin horses, and that meant they were going fast. Either they sensed that something was wrong with Eragon, or the enchantments he put on them were taking effect. Arya was thankful for the horses, as they provided a much easier way to transport Eragon and fast travel.

Reaching her mind out to Angela, she asked, _Angela where are we going?_

Angela didn't say anything quirky or out of the normal, and that was strange. _We're heading for the southernmost tip of the Spine, which is directly west of Feinster._

_Is there a port there?_ Arya asked.

Angela gave no mental verbal response, only mentally nodded. Arya concluded it would take roughly two to three hours to reach their destination. Instead, she focused her attention on the half-elf in front of her. Angela, Selena, and Solembum were riding on Snowfire, while Arya and Eragon were riding on Cadoc. Arya had her arms wrapped around his abdomen and her chin on his shoulder so she could see over him, and for other reasons.

Arya was still getting used to Eragon's brown hair that went beyond his ears; it definitely wasn't like Evan. She cursed herself for comparing the two people; no, they were the same people. She knew from her talks with Angela and Selena that Eragon behaved exactly like Evan had. And that was kind, sweet, loving, and compassionate. But to enemies, he cut them down without mercy. Arya suspected that it was because of the loss of his dragon, and his revenge was taking control.

Before Eragon had been discovered, she knew who he went by in the Varden, and that was Evan, which was unsurprising yet surprising at the same time. She had heard about his actions in the small town of Hultharb in Surda. When Eragon was on his knees and had two swords pointed towards him, Nasuada had brought in some of the warriors who defied the commander also. Before Nasuada could punish them, Eragon said, 'Do not punish them for taking the right actions. I was the one who defied the commander and I take full responsibility.'

Arya admired him for that, but then it reminded her of Evan and she turned her head away. Nasuada had asked him, 'Why do you take full responsibility for everyone's actions?'

'What have they done wrong? Nothing. It was I who disobeyed the commander, as his plan was utterly stupid, and they made the correct decision to follow me.' Eragon's boldness had surprised her at the time, and judging from the look on the other's faces it had surprised them too.

Nasuada then leaned back in her chair, 'Well then.' She said, 'you leave me with two options. Number one; I could give you thirty lashes and you may leave the Varden. Number two; I can give you fifty lashes and you may stay with the Varden.'

Immediately, Eragon began, 'Thirty lash –'. He stopped abruptly, but then said, 'Fifty lashes.'

Arya had been confused at his sudden change of choice, but did not question it.

Within the hour, Eragon was to be whipped. She watched as the man whose name she thought to be Evan was strapped to the pole roughly. Almost all of the Varden had come to watch the whipping, and most were curious to see what they thought was a young man who had defied his commander. When the man finally raises the whip, the man's eyes met hers. Arya gasped and her knees buckled. Those eyes; they were Evan's eyes. And all through the whippings, neither of them moved their eyes away from the other.

Bringing herself back to the present, she looked down at the wonderful creature in her arms. Arya didn't need to steer the horse, as all she had to do was give him mental instructions on where to go. She had told Cadoc to follow Snowfire, as she wouldn't have to give any directions at all.

Then, an idea struck Arya's mind. Reaching out her mind to touch Eragon's she felt his mind totally open. She entered his mind; she saw that he _was_ dreaming. But that wasn't good.

Eragon was standing with his blue blade in front of him, battling an elf with blonde hair and blue eyes. All around him, there were bodies of dead dragons and riders, human and elf alike. But what surprised her was the fact that the Wyrdfell and Galbatorix were not alone. There were creatures in black cloaks and humps on their backs attacking the riders and dragons. A terrible screech wracked the air, and she looked up and saw a hideous creature that looked as if it were made of leather.

It was chaos, but that wasn't even a fourth of it. A roaring wail pierced the air, and it distracted the elf long enough for Eragon to decapitate him. And suddenly, Eragon was on the ground screaming, saying "Don't leave me!"

Eragon hobbled over to a blue dragoness. Arya figured that she would've looked beautiful if not for the gashes and blood that covered her body. An elderly man with a silver beard was on his knees, looking at a much lighter dragon. And she realized the two were Saphira. The man must've been Brom, for he wailed at the sky and drew his sword. It was a light blue to match his own Saphira, and it contained the Ancient Language glyph that meant _Undbitr_. Brom leaped out of her field of vision, and she quickly swiveled her head to follow his movements. But it was too late.

A man with burly arms and muscles held a black sword between horizontal and vertical. And impaled on the sword was Brom, dead.

Eragon cried out in agony, and then it turned to complete rage. The sadness that dwelled within his eyes made her knees buckle. The half-elf was about to leap towards Galbatorix, as he had his back turned, but two women held him back.

"Eragon, there's nothing you can do!" Shouted the woman she recognized as Selena. Angela and Selena were pulling Eragon away from the battle, foot by foot.

"Mother is right Eragon! We must leave!" Angela shouted towards her brother.

"Cowards! Traitors! I hate you all!" Eragon cried towards the heavens. All of the females present, even though Arya wasn't exactly present, had tears pouring down their faces. They all hated to see Eragon in such pain, and it hurt Arya herself to see this dream. Although she had a suspicion that this dream wasn't all that happened.

Arya couldn't take it anymore, so she withdrew from his mind. Arya no longer felt the rapid clatter of hooves, but they were slower than before. Angela and Selena were riding right next to her and Eragon, but it was the sadness in their eyes that caught her attention.

"Horrible isn't it?" Angela asked lowly.

"I only saw one." Arya asked, choking on her cries.

"Doesn't really matter does it? They're all terrifying." Angela said darkly. "I'm honestly surprised he hasn't started screaming yet."

Arya didn't say anything, only looked ahead, and was startled to see the sea. "How long was I in his mind?"

Angela answered again, and Arya realized that Selena was asleep. "Two hours; we're almost there."

Arya nodded her head, and stared forward. Without moving her head, she asked, "What exactly is wrong with Eragon?"

She heard Angela sigh, "The spell he used to create the explosion isn't the reason for his coma. When you use the spell for _that_ reason it takes a strange type of energy, and most of the time we'd be grateful that he lost it."

"What kind of energy?" Arya asked.

"Hate." Angela answered simply. Hate? What a strange type of energy.

"But why aren't you grateful he lost it?"

"Because he isn't the Eragon we know without his hatred, and only Eldrian can restore it." Angela replied.

Arya took a moment to respond, "That's messed up."

Angela laughed, "Yes I suppose it is. But enough chit-chat, we're almost there." Looking ahead, she saw that the sea was half a mile away from them, and she could make out a white vessel tied to the land. Arya was nervous; she had never been on a boat before. Angela saw her queasy look, and said excitedly, "Relax Arya, boat rides are fun!"

It took another five minutes to reach the boat, and she saw that there was no one around; how were they supposed to drive the boat? She voiced her question to Angela.

"It's called magic Arya." She tended to forget that you could do just about anything with magic. She heard Angela wake up Selena, and then she looked at Eragon in front of her. Swinging herself off the horse, but holding Eragon at the same time, she called out, "A little help here!"

"Magic!" Angela shouted towards her. _Dammit! How do I forget?_ She asked herself.

"Risa," she directed the magic towards Eragon, and he slowly rose up into the air. "Tauthr eka." Follow me. Walking in the direction of the boat, she glanced back every so often to see if Eragon was still following her in the air. Walking on the plank that led onto the boat, she asked, "Where do I put him?"

"In his cabin; down the stairs and the third door on the left." Selena told him as she walked onto the ship as well.

"Wait, _his_ cabin? This is your ship?" Arya asked incredulously.

Selena nodded, "Of course; Eragon and Brom built this ship with the white wood from Alalea."

"Alalea! What do you mean?!" Arya practically shouted.

"Calm down child, all shall be explained while we are at sea." Selena told her motherly. After fifteen more minutes of gathering supplies, Arya followed Selena's instructions and brought him into his room. It was surprisingly bare and it only contained a bed that was large enough for two people, a fact that she noticed immediately, a nightstand, and a plank of wood that was sticking out of the wall. She set him down on the bed and walked over the small ledge. There were six circles of slate on the ledge, and they were fairths.

The one on the far left was of a man with a silver beard and a smile on his face. It was Brom. Behind him in the fairth was Saphira I and she was looking straight at Eragon.

To the right of that was of Angela with a sword that looked deadly sharp. Solembum was lying next to her feet appearing to be asleep.

The next fairth was one of Selena in a city that she hadn't seen before. Even though she could not see the city itself, its grandeur was shining through.

The next one was of a blue dragoness, and it could only be Eragon's Saphira. The fairth showed so much sadness, yet so much joy at the same time.

The next one surprised her; it was one of her when she was a little girl. She was asleep in Eragon's arms, and she had a content look on her face. Arya could see the happiness that he put in the fairth.

However, it was the last one that was the most surprising. Eragon had not one, but two fairths of Arya. It was one depicting her as what she looked like now, so it could've been from when she was twenty to now. But no, Arya remembered that moment, and she would always remember that moment. It was the day he was being whipped, and they were staring intently into the other's eyes. She saw herself look weak in the knees and moisture was brimming in both Arya's eyes.

Tearing her eyes away from the fairth, she looked at Eragon one last time and left the cabin. She walked through the hall and up the stairs onto the deck of the ship. They were already out in the water, and the ropes and wheel were moving themselves. She had never really studied about ships, and the only time they were really mentioned in history was the time when elves and Urgals arrived in Alagaesia and then humans several hundred years later.

There was one part of the ship she was familiar with, and that was the crow's nest. There were paintings and fairths of the elves ships in Tialdari Hall in Ellesmera, but they never showed any way of getting to the crow's nest.

Looking up at the top again, she saw that there were several barrels hanging from the edge by a rope. Following the rope with her eyes, it led down to the railing of the ship and was knotted there. If she was correct, and she was probably was, then if she cut the rope while holding onto the rope above the cut, and if the barrels were heavy enough, she be flung into the air.

Drawing her thin elven sword, she stood up on the railing using the rope she was about to cut for support. Holding onto the rope with her left hand, she raised her sword and swung at the rope.

She was immediately launched into the air, and she was holding onto the rope with all her might. When she was about to hit the nest, she let go of the rope and used the momentum to grab onto the edges. Heaving herself up, she fell onto the other side, onto a person.

"Hey!" Angela shouted.

"Sorry," Arya said. She quickly rolled of Angela and onto the wood next to her. Surprisingly the nest was very large, and there was plenty of room. "So are you going to tell me about the Alalean wood?"

"Sure," Angela replied casually.

Arya waited patiently, and when no story was forthcoming, she thought on her words and asked in a different manner. "What is the story behind the Alalean wood?"

Angela smiled towards her, and Arya growled in response. It was impossible to speak casually around, and you had to voice your questions correctly or you would never get your answer.

"One day when Brom, Eragon, and both Saphira's were at the tailbone of the Spine, why they were there is beyond me, Saphira I saw a gleaming white in the water. Curious as to see what it was, the dragons swam into the water and dug up a white ship. Eragon and Brom quickly discovered that it was one of the ships that the elves used to sail from Alalea. They cleaned it up with magic and brought it to Varnalond. We claimed the ship as our own and we've been using it ever since. I think Eragon was thirty-two at the time."

"I see." Arya said absentmindedly. And before she knew it, she yawned loudly and stretched her arms.

Angela obviously noticed her actions, "Go get some sleep, no one needs to stay awake anyway."

Arya nodded and before she knew it she was standing on the deck of the ship. She looked up at the crow's nest again and she saw Angela looking over the edge and smiling at her. "Where do I sleep?"

"Down the stairs and third door on the left," Angela called down with a smile on her face. Arya didn't understand why she was smiling like that, but she was too exhausted to think about it. Walking down the stairs and going to the third door on the left she opened it and walked inside. Without even looking around she collapsed on the bed and felt warms arms encircle around her. She didn't bother to question whose they were, as she was far too tired to even think.

Arya was too tired to think that she was in Eragon's room, on Eragon's bed, sleeping in Eragon's arms.


	7. Awake at Varnalond

**A/N: Thanks to Krokodyl for telling me Dora's real age. It had been nagging me for a while. Thanks to all my reviewers and MaylorTalone for complimenting me, so *looks up how to say 'thank you' in the Ancient Language* elrun ono! And an interesting story I want to share with you guys. It turns out, you CAN'T pm yourself, what a shame. And thank you guys who said this was the best story on FanFiction and others who complimented me. And I've decided to do a special POV for you guys.**

**And this is to all the people thinking Arya is OOC; remember this is an AU and Arya grew up with Eragon who taught her not to hide her emotions. **

**And it's a Kodak moment comes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; it means worthy of a picture. **

**Poseidon's son: You forget, she grew up with Evan/Eragon who taught her to not hide her emotions so she is going to be emotional.**

**Disclaimer: Dora is technically 23 years old. Not mine.**

**A-N-G-E-L-A**

"Aren't they so cute together?" Angela cooed. Arya looked passed out cold, and Eragon had one arm under her and arm over her, so she was in his embrace. "It's a Kodak moment!"

Her mother laughed. "Yes I have to agree, but how did Eragon get his arms around Arya? He _is_ in a coma."

Angela frowned; now that was a good question. Maybe Arya wrapped them around her herself? No, she was half asleep by the time she was even on the deck. And besides, it would've been extremely difficult for Arya to wrap his arms around her in the first place, so what happened?

Just then, Solembum walked into the room with his tail and held high, as if he had done something noble. _Solembum_, she warned, _what did you do?_

He gave her an innocent look; _I don't know what you're talking about. All I did was accidentally hit Eragon's arms and they fell over onto the elvin princess. What a coincidence don't you think?_

Angela sighed; _Solembum, as romantic as that was, you're an idiot._

Solembum flashed a toothy grin at her, and her smile vanished. The grin was the exact same kind that Eragon's Saphira had given her, and it sent chills through her body. Solembum, thankfully, went on as if nothing had happened. _What can I say; it's what males do best._ The werecat winked at her, and walked out of the room. Turning away from the door, she saw her mother was looking in a box of slate sheets that Eragon kept. Angela wondered why her mother was taking so long, and she finally realized why when he mother brought out a circle of slate that was bigger than her head. The slate was in a perfect circle, and it was made for a good picture.

Angela smiled. Her mother turned to her and asked, "Can you hold the slate?" Angela nodded. She never did anything tactical with her mother; after all, she was her mother. Her mother had even grounded her one time from experimenting, even though Angela was a hundred and fifty six years old. She usually accepted casual talk with her brother, although sometimes she didn't just to annoy him.

Without using magic, as using the manual way gets you stronger, she held the slate in the one o'clock direction of her mother. **(Forward and to the right a little)**

Her mother put one palm flat on the slate and the other was held out towards the…the…couple? She didn't know what their relationship status was, although she hoped it was soon to be mates.

Invoking the words for color and picture, the image before her was displayed across the flat rock, but it didn't look as loving and majestic as the real sight.

Because of the enchantments embedded into the wood by the original elves and Eragon and Brom, the ship went four to five times the speed of an ordinary ship, and they were south-east of Beirland. They would reach Varnalond in the next three hours. Walking down to her cabin, she lay down on her bed and remembered her home.

Angela and Eragon weren't born there on the island of Uden, as Varnalond hadn't been built yet. Eragon and Angela had been born in Ilirea under the supervision of King Evandar. King Evandar had been a very kind man, and he respected all of life, including half-breeds. His mate on the other hand, not so much. Angela didn't like Islanzadi the moment she laid eyes on her. She was ordering her daughter around, telling her not to play with the other children, as that was not what a princess did. She could see the obvious dislike in the little elf's eyes at being called a princess. Angela wouldn't like it either; being tied to a throne or monarchy only limited ones freedom, it never enhanced it.

And it was also quite obvious that Arya liked her father much more than her mother, as soon as she laid eyes upon him as he was guiding them into Ellesmera for Eragon and Arya's first time, he immediately picked Arya up and twirled her around in a circle.

'When we gonna pwactise dada?" Little Arya had asked. Her lack of grammar made Angela smile. She had always adored children, as she had only see few in her life, and that was saying something considering she was in her early fifties, and looking good as well.

The only children she had ever really seen were the ones she had delivered in Varnalond, the ones she had attended to if they got a scratch, and the ones who played in Varnalond's park.

'As soon as you meet our _very_ special guests.' Evandar said straining the word very.

'Okay!' Little Arya said with excitement.

Angela liked Little Arya from the start, and Angela had nearly laughed when Arya accidentally stumbled into her at the Varden and didn't recognize her. It was rather funny, considering the fact that she had seen Arya through Eragon's many fairths of her. Even though he only had two on his ledge, he probably had about a dozen more. She was also quite grateful that Arya had never entered Eragon or her mother's tent, as Eragon did have a fairth of Arya in there.

She huffed out air and closed her eyes.

**A-R-Y-A**

"Come on Arya wake up! We're almost there!" Angela shouted at her.

"Five more minutes," she grumbled.

"No!" Angela shouted, and she literally pulled her out of bed. Arya landed on the floor with a crash, but it only worsened when Angela grabbed by one of her legs and started dragging her out of the cabin.

"Angela what is wrong with you?!" Arya shouted towards her, or at least she tried to. It was rather hard to shout when your head was being dragged across wood.

Angela stooped and eyed her, genuinely confused. "Everything is wrong with me," the herbalist said with a cheeky grin. And before Arya could protest again, she was being strewn across the ground and what happened next wasn't very pleasurable. Arya forgot all about the stairs, and her head bonked onto every one of them. Soon she had a large headache.

Angela carelessly dropped Arya on the deck of the ship, and Arya was just fine with that. Turning over onto a more comfortable position, she shut her eyes again.

"Oh no you don't," Angela shouted towards her. "Get up or I'll make you. And it involves hair, Eragon's head, and lips."

"I'm sorry?" Arya asked groggily; she wasn't sure if she heard her right.

Angela repeated her threat louder, and Arya immediately jumped up into the air but regretted it soon. Her head started aching and she put her right hand to her forehead and muttered the word, "Letta." The pain subsided to a dull throb, and she then focused on her surroundings more. The ship was gradually slowing down, and she saw a dock not too far ahead. She saw Selena and a man who had the fairness of an elf, but the sturdiness of a human. Arya's eyes widened; it was the first time she had really seen another half-elf besides Eragon and Angela.

When the ship finally docked and the gangplank lowered, the half-elf walked aboard with Selena at her side.

Arya was surprised when the half-elf ignored the elvish customs and reached out her hand for her to shake. It was such a humanly gesture that it took a moment for her to react, but she finally did.

"Greetings, I am Eldrian, where is Eragon?" Eldrian asked.

"Angela replied with a quirky smile, "Down the stairs and the third door on the left. And that was when she finally looked up towards the top of the giant hill. Leading the way up to the hill was a city that contained the likes of no other. It was not built solely for the accommodation of dragons, but they could most certainly fit. The houses and shops were made of all kinds of different materials, yet it synched in harmony with the other buildings. And following the cobblestone road with her eyes, she could make out a small palace resting at the very top of the hill.

The city itself, no matter the size, was a magnificent city. All around the main street that she could see were people walking and dining and buying wares. There was a mixture of all races, and none were being prejudice, none being racist; they were in harmony.

About a hundred of the city's inhabitants were gathered at the entrance to the dock, and they were eyeing the boat with excitement. Arya began to eye the half-breeds and their parents with interest, and Angela was smiling and waving to some of them.

A noise to her right snapped her out of her reverie, and she saw Eldrian emerging from below deck with a smile plastered on his face. "He will live and he is awake." The half-elf announced to Angela, Selena, and Arya.

Arya was joyous, then curious, "How did you heal him?"

Angela laughed, "He won't spill any of his secrets about healing, no matter how important it is." At the end of her statement Angela gave the healer a pointed glare to which he responded with a shrug.

"He wants to see Arya." Eldrian said looking towards her.

"How do you know who I am?" Arya asked warily.

Eldrian shrugged again, "I don't; Eragon asked to see Arya and since you're the only person on this ship that I don't know I presume you are Arya. Am I correct?"

"Yes…" Arya said unsurely. Then the man stepped out of the way of the door leading below deck, and she walked down the stairs. When she was out of sight of the beings on the deck, she dashed towards the third door on the left, and wrenched it open. Sitting there on top of the covers was Eragon. The one person she hadn't truly seen since the ambush near Osilon two years previous.

Before any tears could fall onto her cheeks, she leaped towards Eragon hugged him as tight as she could.

"Not…so…tight…little one." Eragon said. Arya smiled in the crook of his neck. He had been calling her 'little one' ever since the day they met. "You're…breaking…my ribs."

"Shut up, you can heal them later." Arya said to him. And before she knew it, she was sitting in Eragon's lap crying. Like any other being on the planet, Arya had obviously cried over the past one hundred years. But she always had Eragon with her, and he was her hero. "I t-thought you w-were d-dead," she gasped out between sobs.

Eragon shushed her and rubbed patterns on her back. "I'm sorry," he said to her.

Arya looked up with her red eyes and asked confused, "For what?"

_Her_ half-elf closed his eyes and leaned he body back against the headboard, so it made it more comfortable for the both of them. "I'm sorry for being a coward. I should have told you who I was in Farthen Dur."

"What do you mean Farthen Dur?" Arya asked.

"Who do you think broke you out of Gil'ead? I brought you to Farthen Dur and they gave you the Tunivor's Nectar and you lived. These two ugly bald twins tried to probe my mind rather forcefully when they wouldn't let me see you. So I broke into their minds to see what they were hiding and I saw that they were working for Galbatorix, so I killed them on the spot. I left a note on the wall saying –"

"'These twins betrayed the Varden for the Empire. I killed them before they could cause any more harm; and good morning Arya.'" Arya interrupted.

Eragon smiled sadly towards her, "Yes, and I was a coward. I should have told you. But instead I went near Aberon and took out my anger on a herd of cow. All my hate and anger went into that spell I used, and it felt as if it all left me. But that wasn't good. It damaged my soul and mother and Angela quickly brought me here to Varnalond."

"Shut up Eragon." Arya groaned into his shirt. Eragon then laughed but soon erupted into a coughing fit. Eragon was hunched over on the side of the bed, spitting blood into the waste bin. "Um, isn't it really bad when you're coughing up blood?"

Without turning around, Eragon answered. "Generally yes, but I need to get the spell out of my system."

"Ah," was Arya only reply, and when Eragon sat back against the headboard again, Arya glued herself towards his body. Eragon's arms were wrapped protectively around her, and she loved the feeling. Arya then decided to speak up and admit her feelings for him. "Eragon I –"

"Eragon! It's been ten minutes since you woke up and you won't even say hello to me?" Angela asked barging into the room.

"Hello," Eragon said simply.

"Hi!" Angela said enthusiastically, and then she left.

"Sometimes I wonder for your sister's sanity." Arya whispered to Eragon.

"Well wonder no more Arya, because she is out of it." Then the two began to laugh, and it was just like old times. Eragon sighed beneath her, "I know we're at Varnalond so I guess we should go."

Arya nodded but didn't let go of Eragon. "Little one, you have to let go of me."

"Never," Arya mumbled into his chest. She heard Eragon sigh and complain about the stubbornness of raven-haired green-eyed elves. "Can you carry me?" Arya asked sweetly.

"Of course, although maybe not for long." Eragon replied. And soon she felt herself being hoisted into the air and rested against Eragon's torso. She barely paid any attention to their surroundings, and she only reveled in Eragon's presence.

When she could smell the sea she heard Angela say to someone, "Rather clingy isn't she mother?"

"Shut up Angela." She called without moving her body.

Then she heard Eldrian ask, "Shadeslayer, just who is this woman? She is most certainly not a guardian, and she is no half-breed either."

She felt Eragon set her down on the deck and she stood up behind Eragon, slightly hiding. "This is Princess Arya, and she is an elf."

She saw from her hiding spot behind Eragon that Eldrian had just raised his hand and made some sort of signal. "Eldrian, relax."

"You want me to relax Shadeslayer?! You have brought an elf into Varnalond and the daughter of Islanzadi no less! We can't have her go back to the mainland and spill our location."

"Eldrian, stop!" Eragon shouted, and she was startled by the wave of command he held. "She is her father's daughter, and do you really think she doesn't know what I am?"

Eldrian's eyes widened, and then he bowed towards her. When the half-elf stood up, he was smiling again.

"Why so happy?" Arya asked unsurely.

"Because we have the daughter of Evandar in our midst!" Eldrian shouted. "Evandar was a kind and gracious man who helped build Varnalond. And thankfully his love for all life wasn't known throughout the races so his reputations among the other races was spared."

Arya had a million questions to ask, but before she could even start Eragon interrupted them. "Sorry to interrupt, but don't you think we should continue this discussion on dry land?"

Eldrian looked flustered, "Of course, of course Shadeslayer, let us go."

When Eragon began to follow Eldrian, Arya latched onto Eragon's left arm with both hands and held it with an iron grip. When Eragon raised and eyebrow towards her, she raised and eyebrow back. Eragon shook his head and chuckled at the same time. Eragon began to follow Eldrian again off the ship and onto dry land.

When her feet touched land she stumbled and would've fallen had she not been holding Eragon's arm like she would never touch it again.

"Sea legs," Eragon said to her, and he did not need to elaborate further.

"Come Shadeslayer, Angela, Selena, and Arya, the council eagerly awaits you." Eldrian said with a large smile on his face.

Eragon groaned and when Arya looked to him for explaining, he said, "The council is made up of one member from each race, including pure-bloods. Their meetings tend to last several hours." Arya nodded her understanding and then though of what Eragon had said. He had said 'including pure-bloods' like it was an uncommon things. Then she realized that if you were a pure-blood then you were the stranger around here, not the other way around. And so Arya walked with Eragon along the cobblestone road ignoring the seething and untrusting looks she was receiving. No, this was about her and Eragon.

**A/N: Alright! They're at Varnalond and ready to do whatever! And here's a warning, either Chapter 8 or 9 will be a memory chapter. **


	8. I Love You, Now and Forever

**A/N: As a few of you may know I posted a piece of shit Memory Chapter and it failed… horribly. So I grabbed it out of the computer, stomped on it, gave it to my dog, and then blew it up with five tons of C4. I don't have anger problems… But don't worry, this chapter will**

**Disclaimer: Isn't it obvious that I don't? I mean come on. If I owned the IC I would have riots outside of my house 24/7, my sister (that I don't have) would be totally insane (that's Angela by the way) and FanFiction would be making fun of me repeatedly. Are we clear?**

**A-R-Y-A**

She kept her gaze straight ahead and her held high, ignoring the looks she was receiving. Even though every time she received a look of disgust, Eragon would glare right back at them, and they would shirk away, it still unnerved her. Arya was surprised by the amount of power Eragon appeared to hold, but it was as plain as day. She supposed it was because of him slaying the Shade Ralatov and saving Varnalond. Arya did notice that the closer they got to the palace, the tenser Eragon became.

_Eragon, what is the matter? Why are you so tense?_ Arya asked mentally.

She could feel Eragon's hesitation. _The last time I was in Varnalond was when I used what I call the _'Hate Spell'_, but I didn't talk to the council. The last time before that was when I…_ He stopped suddenly, and she knew why. It was when he finally came out of seclusion from the wild.

_It is alright Eragon, your mother and sister told me everything._ Arya said to him reassuringly. She could see the moisture forming in his eyes, and she nearly shed a few tears herself.

_You'll need to remind me to thank them for it, for I know I couldn't have told you. And I thank you as well_. Eragon said, looking straight at her.

Arya smiled at him, _you do not need to thank me at all. I would do anything for you._

Eragon chuckled as they were walking. _I know Arya, I know. But shouldn't it be me who says it you? I've been telling you the same thing for the past eighty-nine years._

She leaned against his left side and stroked his arm comfortingly. _In all of the insane situations you've been in, I often thought I was the more mature one._

Eragon snorted, _that's because you are._ And all too soon, they reached the entrance to the magnificent palace. Its beauty was even more astonishing close up. It had the mixture of dwarves' stone, elvin trees, Urgal huts, and human wood. All the different races were imbued within the palace, and it made it even more beautiful and exotic. When they were right before the gates to the mini-palace, they swung open of their own accord, and Eldrian stopped and turned around.

"I trust that you remember your way to the council room?" Eldrian asked.

"Sadly so," was Eragon's response. _He must really hate the council_, she thought. And so they walked on, but slower this time. Remembering Selena and Angela, she turned her head to find them, only to see them gone.

"Where did they go?" Arya asked Eragon worriedly, not bothering to speak in his mind as they were alone.

"Wherever they went, which is to say, I have no idea." He replied with a smirk. _And I suggest we speak with out minds; the council may overhear us and they will be glad to use anything they can get against us. _

Arya gave him a look of confusion, but then mentally agreed with his plan. Eragon took them down a breathtaking corridor and all along the walls were paintings and fairths of various people. One of them made her stop in her tracks.

It was a painting of a little elf girl with raven hair and emerald eyes. By the looks of it, the little elf looked like she was only three years old. It showed total innocence in the little girl's eyes, and you could tell she was staring at whoever was painting the picture.

She let go of Eragon's arm and slowly walked over to the painting. It was painted skillfully and made by a master painter. "Is that me?" Arya asked, but it was a barely a whisper in the wind.

She heard Eragon walk up behind her and lay a hand on her left shoulder. "Yes," she heard him say.

"Who painted this? It's outstanding work." She complimented the mysterious painter.

"Thank for you compliment; it was not an easy painting." She heard him say. Immediately she whirled around and looked into his chocolate orbs.

"You painted this?" Arya asked incredulously.

Eragon face turned crestfallen, "Do you not like it?"

"No! No, I love it! I just didn't know you painted, that's all." She said as she turned to look at the painting once again. It captured her perfectly, and she was amazed at how well he did. Then a question ran through her mind, "Why was it so difficult to paint it?"

Eragon turned solemn abruptly, and then said, "I will tell you that after we meet with the council, although why we need to meet with them is beyond me." Arya nodded her head and grabbed hold of Eragon's arm again, and he led them through the palace.

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

The council; oh how he hated the council. They were always trying to manipulate him, trying to get him to take power over all the half-breeds so he could be their puppet. They had tried to do the same with his father Brom before he passed. Eragon wondered why the heck Brom created them anyway, but stopped himself. Several times over the last hundred years he had questioned many of the things his father had done, but he had tried to stop, as it would only create even more anger towards him.

But perhaps if _she_ were here, she could help him. She always could, they had gone through many a battle together, and were always by each others side. Why did she have to leave him alone in the world?

An angry cry nearly escaped his lips, before he held it back. He silently cursed himself. Over the past hundred years he had begun to control his thoughts, so that he didn't think of _her_. He had nearly perfected the art of stopping his thoughts from wondering to _her_. But lately, he had been losing control ever since he had left Arya in Farthen Dur. He was a coward for not telling her who he really was, _what_ he really was. In the eyes of Alagaesia, he was an abomination upon the world.

But to the people of Varnalond, he was a hero. To his family, he was loved. And to the elf who was holding on to his arm, he was loved by. Of course Eragon had never acted upon his feelings, as it would bring up too many images of _her_. Every time he tried, he was afraid of rejection and the visions that soon encompassed his mind. And now, images of her beauty, cunning, and humor came through his mind. But he desperately tried to drive them all away.

However, all too soon they were at the doors of the council. The council itself held ten creatures. A Human-elf, human-dwarf, human-Urgal, dwarf-elf, and dwarf-human. Then there were their advisors but Eragon could hardly think of them that way. They seemed more like a pesky fly who wouldn't stop annoying people until the day they died. So he wasn't surprised to hear shouting when they arrived outside the door.

Drawing in a breath, he looked at his little one. The first time Eragon had said it was an accident, as he was brooding over Saphira at the time and she always called him little one. But the name stuck on her, and he continued to use it.

A reassuring smile crossed her face, and it made him smile too. And with a slight smile on his face, Eragon opened the doors and walked into the council room. They had obviously been arguing just two seconds before, but when Eragon walked into the room with a foreign elf hanging onto his arm as if she never wanted to let it go, they went silent. All of them immediately sat down and stared at Eragon, whom they expected to appear nervous and look away bashfully like the last time, over a hundred years previous. But losing _her_ had strengthened his resolve; no longer would he not returns the stares of these petty people, he would stare right back at them.

And stare he did. They didn't expect that, and when they saw the fire within his eyes, they looked away. "What do you want?" He asked brusquely.

Several of them seemed stunned as if they were expecting him to be polite, and he knew they were knew members of the council.

One of the persons, an ordinary human-dwarf, stood up. Eragon didn't know his name, nor did he care. But this dwarf didn't inherit the shortness from the dwarves, rather the stockiness, as he was heavily muscled and almost six feet tall.

"Lord Eragon, we wanted to –"

But Eragon interrupted him, "I am not you 'lord', I am nobody's lord."

The half-dwarf bowed, "yes, well, sorry. On behalf of the council, we wanted to ask you if you would like to claim leadership over the half-breeds. We know your father did not accept it, but we know you will uphold your duty." _Duty?!_ How dare them! They knew nothing of his life, of what he had gone through.

All of the other creatures in the room leaned forward, but not Eragon and Arya. Arya seemed surprised at their question, as she knew he had no desire for power. In fact, he hated power, as most just totally abused it into non-being.

The new-councils, the people on the council in the past century, were smiling, as if they knew he wouldn't say no.

"No," Eragon said darkly.

All of the new-councils did a double take, and then blinked confusedly. "But why not…Shadeslayer?" A human-elf hybrid asked strangely, as if he was totally confused as to why he wasn't taking the position.

_Let go of my arm, I need to talk to the council again._ He asked Arya politely. She let go of his arm, albeit reluctantly.

Eragon began to walk towards the table where the ten creatures were. "Why will I not accept this position you ask?" Many of them nodded, curious to find out why. "It is simple, I do not want it. And who could blame me? I would be tied down to rule, not being able to make my own decisions in life. I would be imprisoned to Varnalond forever, unable to roam the land freely, unable to fly on my –". He caught himself at the last moment, and only a few noticed his fumble, mainly Arya. "Unable to protect those who I love, unable to have a family, unable to get my revenge." He ended darkly. Most of the old-councils knew the story, and didn't bother to question him. But he could see the pathetic questions in the new-councils minds. They were going to try and convince him to be the leader.

His blood began to boil at their incessant tries to make him rule. He would never disgrace _her_ that way. She had compared ruling to her wings being chained to the ground, never able to fly again. Eragon would not. He would not. He would not!

"NO!" He shouted towards the pathetic beings. "NEVER!" And he stormed out of the chamber and began to walk as fast as possible towards his own room, at the tallest point on the palace. And then he realized; he had never been there without her before, never slept there without her with him. But he kept on walking anyway. He passed maids and servants, who instantly backed out of his way once they learned that the _legendary_ Eragon was in front of them. _Legendary_, he thought with disgust. _I couldn't even protect my own dragon! I am not legendary, I am not heroic, I am a coward. _

He smashed open the door to his room and was astounded by how fast he got up there. But one of the things he was grateful for was that absolutely nothing had changed. There was still the fairth of baby Arya two days after she was born. There was the fairth of _her_ when she just hatched. There was one of him and his twin sister Angela when they were babies. Angela was sucking her thumb while Eragon was chewing on a quill and looking at his mother and father. The sight made Eragon smile, and remember his childhood.

But all of those thoughts were quickly gone when he remembered _her_ death, _her_ suffering. Somehow he managed to walk over to the bed, and he tried to lay on it. And he failed miserably. Instead he lay in a sitting position with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting on them. But he refused to let any tears be shed. He had promised _her_ that he would move on and find someone to love. And he had, but _she_ hadn't foreseen that every time he looked at her that his heart was being ripped into a thousand pieces.

He may have been there for minutes, hours, even days, and he wouldn't have noticed any time passing by. Eragon hadn't been in what he called a Dragon-Trance for over fifty years. It was mainly where he was so absorbed in his grief that it blocked himself out from all others in the world.

So he didn't feel when strong, cool arms wrapped around his body and shielded him from the rest of the world with her arms.

**A-R-Y-A**

No! It was her fault, although she had no idea why she was blaming her self. Arya hadn't really done anything wrong. But as Arya ran through the palace chasing after Eragon's scent, which she found totally intoxicating, she began to worry. He had almost heard him say 'my dragon'. But then he stopped himself, only to become angrier and angrier. Quickly asking a maid were Eragon went, she had said that 'Lord Eragon' had run past them and was presumably heading up to his tower.

After receiving directions and a map, which was very helpful, she began to run again. Right, right, left, down the corridor, and up the spiral staircase, and there she was. She saw the engraved dragons on the door, and how they circled around each other. Slowly walking over to the door, she gently pushed it open and peered inside. Eragon was sitting against the bed with his knees up to his chest and his head resting on them.

Arya walked inside and quietly closed the door behind her. "Eragon?" She called out. He didn't even stir. "Eragon!" She cried with more alarm this time and she dashed over to him.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled his face to look at hers. She put her hand over his heart and felt for a pulse. There it was, beating regularly. Arya looked into his eyes, and they were shut, but not dead. "Eragon!" She shouted. And before she even knew what was happening, she crashed her lips onto his. Arya, having known Eragon most of her life, had not had any romantic interest in anyone besides Eragon, and therefore she hadn't kissed anyone besides her parents. And that was only on the cheek.

When she pulled back, Eragon's eyes were half-open, but they were hardly aware of anything that was going on. "Dammit Eragon, wake up!" She shouted towards him with a tear falling down her face. And she kissed him again, and again. And soon enough she felt his eyes flutter open and he took an intake of breath. But it didn't go to well as Arya's mouth was covering his. She pulled back and looked into Eragon's eyes. They showed tiredness and exhaustion. But he just woke up an hour ago, why was he so tired?

"Hey…little one." He whispered.

She smiled towards him and kissed him once again, and her heart skipped two-beats at Eragon kissed her back. Before she knew it, Arya hands were entangled in his soft hair, and one of his hands was holding her neck. "Eragon…"She said through kisses. "What…just happened?"

Much to her dismay he pulled back and looked her dead in the eyes. Arya gasped; his eyes were no longer filled with revenge, they had life in them once again, if only partially.

"I was in a Dragon-Trance. I was just so…lonely, and I couldn't help it. I'm sorry for worrying you." Eragon explained. Didn't he know by know that he didn't have to apologize.

So in response, she leaned in until there foreheads were touching. Arya couldn't see anything very well, as her eyelids were half-open.

"I love you Eragon, now and forever." She whispered.

"And I love you Arya, always." He whispered.

And with a goofy grin on her face, she pressed her lips upon his, and it was an amazing night.

**A/N: Just to let you know, yes they did have sex. No I am NOT going to write it for reason. One: I don't know how. Well, I can try, but I don't even want to write it. Thanks for reading!**

**I also have question for you guys. Should Arya get pregnant?  
**


	9. Full of Irony

**A/N: Ok, I got a ton of reviews and I have to thank Middleearthmidget for being the fiftieth and hundredth reviewer! While I'm sitting here typing this I am watching the Lord of the Rings, Return of the King. And I vowed never to watch the ending, cause guess where Paolini got the ending of Inheritance from? And I don't feel like crying tonight. Yeah, Saphira is **_**her**_**.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, its Dora's!**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

His blood ran cold. It was impossible, but yet it was there. Long ago he had totally come to terms with the fact that _she_ would never come back. Never since her death did he ever believe he would happy again. He was happy, in a way. Now, after fifty years he was with Arya, and he had lay awake next to his little one all night.

At early dawn he had smiled and sat up on the bed. Of course, he had to disentangle himself from the intricate tangle of limbs. And when he walked out of the bed and climbed to the highest point of the entire island of Uden, it had come to him.

Whilst he sat there, a small wooden boat the size of a person's head had sailed up to him. At first he had been wary, and had prepared a spell to burn it from the sky. But he had let it come close, and when it had come within two feet of him and he was about to use the spell, but then it disintegrated on its own.

A piece of parchment had fallen from the ashes, and landed on his lap. He had set wards around himself to guard himself against any trap.

When he had opened the letter and read it, the letter had dropped from his frozen hands.

_'Come the cliff north of Melian if you ever want to see your Saphira again.'_

It was impossible, but written in the Liduen Kvaedhi so it was imbedded with truth. Should he go? At first his answer was absolutely not. It was probably a trap. But then it was yes. If there was any chance for him to see his Saphira ever again, he would take.

Eragon froze again; that was the first time he had thought her name for a hundred years. And then he decided; he would go. It was his _only_ chance to see Saphira ever again. Climbing down from the top of the palace, he dropped onto the balcony that held the teardrop portal. How was he going to get there though? He couldn't use the family ship, the _Talita_. **(OH THE IRONY)** He wanted to leave Varnalond discreetly, and he realized there was only one way to do it. Angela.

**A-R-Y-A**

Most people don't know when they awaken, just that they did. They don't remember what their thoughts were when they awake, but Arya did. And it was alone. There was no one in the bed beside and it made her wonder if the night before was all a dream, a wonderful dream at that. She opened her eyes and shot herself up into a sitting position, not caring that she was naked.

She looked to the right of the bed and saw the covers pulled back and there was a small impression that hinted that a being rested there. Arya smiled; so it wasn't a dream. But then where was he? She looked around the large room even more and saw that her clothes were clean and stacked neatly on the breakfast table. And there was the note next to it, the balcony doors were open, wait, the note!

She leaped out of the bed and grasped the piece of parchment.

Obviously it was from Eragon. She'd recognize his handwriting anywhere. It was rough and brusque, yet graceful in its own way. She quickly began to read the note.

_Little one,_

_I am sorry to leave you in such a short notice, but think nothing of it. I have gone with Angela on a mission that I sadly cannot tell you about. I wish I could, but every time I try it escapes me. Of course I will return in one piece, __**two**__ at the maximum. And here I sit, writing you this letter. Strangely or not so strangely it has taken me a quarter of an hour just to write what you see above. You know I'm not really one for goodbyes, and you may think me a coward for not saying goodbye in person, and I suppose I am. I just couldn't bear the thought of seeing you cry; even though I have held you when you cry, I always stayed with you and comforted you. _

_ It even hurts to say goodbye in a simple letter, as you can see if you look at the tearstain to the left. But, I will come back, no matter what happens; I will always come back to you my little one. It is hard to believe that it was eighty-nine years ago that you first met me, and so much has passed. Sometimes, I still see the innocent twelve-year-old girl sleeping in my arms. And it makes me happy to know that your soul is still innocent and untouched by malice. _

_ Two weeks ago if you had asked me what I was living for I would've told you revenge, but now I live for you. Even though revenge is still deeply imbedded in my mind, you are there as well. And I thank you for that. _

_ I love you my little one, now and forever._

_Eragon Shadeslayer, Vanquisher of Snails. (It's a long story)_

Unnoticed by herself, she had sat down in a chair when she read that he had left. What was she going to do? What could she do? A small part of her felt betrayed, that he would just leave her alone. But she remembered that he wouldn't go without a _very_ good reason. And she couldn't help but wonder what the reason was. She set the note back down on the table and began to clothe herself.

**Look away boys…. Elemental Dragon Slayer stop peeking!**

She was hell bent on finding out where Eragon had gone, so she went to find Selena. Who else would know where Eragon and Angela went? She used her incredibly useful three dimensional map of the palace. Written in blue ink, it said _'__**Selena's Chambers'**_. Racing past maids and workers, and ignoring the violent stream of curses directed towards her, she dashed towards Selena's Chambers.

It only took her a few short minutes to reach the north-west wing of the palace, and an even shorter time to reach the door that was the entrance to Selena's domain.

As fast as possible, she rapped on the door three times and said, "Selena." She knocked on the door three more times and said, "Selena." And she knocked a final three times and said, "Selena."

It took a few moments, and she was tempted to knock again, but the door flung open to reveal Selena. She looked exhausted and her eyes were slightly red from crying.

Arya cocked her head much like a cat or dog would do. "What is the matter Selena?"

In response to her question, the brown-eyed elf beckoned Arya inside the room, and motioned for her to sit where she pleased. Arya walked over to a small chair and sat down slowly.

When Selena had finally sat down across from her, Arya repeated her question.

It took a moment for Selena to respond, "It is Eragon and Angela. You do know they went on a mission?"

Arya nodded her head and motioned for Selena to continue, "Eragon and Angela came to me and told me that they were leaving and that if any trouble had arose, that the persons would need to come to the cliff north of Melian to help them. They did not tell me the full details of their mission, only that they were meeting someone there. It doesn't surprise me though," Selena said with a laugh. "Those two would get into the worst sort of trouble possible. Actually, they caused the most trouble. They were always planning the next scheme, the next prank. And Brom's Saphira was always helping them."

Arya chuckled; it was not hard to imagine Eragon scheming with his twin sister. But it was hard to imagine what he looked like as a boy. "What sort of trouble did they get into?" Arya asked curiously.

"Oh, all sorts," the elf said with an exaggerated sigh. "Angela had started herbalism when she was three years old, and we didn't even know it. And Eragon of course was the one giving ideas and gathering ingredients. And mind you this all started when they were_ three_ years old. But we didn't fully discover it until two years later. Their first prank ever was possibly the funniest. Eragon had wanted to start with something big, and I quote from his memories, 'Daddy and Momma go kaboom!'" Arya laughed out loud. Eragon as a child was entertaining to listen to, and they sat there for two hours before Arya's stomach growled.

Selena smiled. "My apologies Arya, it would seem I have distracted you from eating. Although I must ask, why is when you came to my room it looked as though you had just woken up?"

Arya became confused, "Because I had, why?"

"Because when you came knocking at my door it was eleven in the morning."

Eleven in the morning?! She always woke up at dawn or an hour or two after it in the Varden camp. But Arya did know why she had slept so late.

"I guess I was tired from recent events," she said nonchalantly, hoping to get Selena off her tail. But it didn't work…at all.

Selena raised an eyebrow, "Recent events? I do not recall anything tiring happening yesterday. Maybe it was something at night…?" The elf finished with narrowed eyes.

Arya swallowed. She could face the entire Varden and her mother but she could stand against her mother-in-law. Was she her mother-in-law? Arya supposed so; she had consummated her love with Eragon the night before. And Arya couldn't help the faint blush the rose to her cheeks at the elf's question.

"Um, it was nothing really," but she was totally betrayed by her body. She flushed red and she was saved by the door bursting open. It was Angela, and she was crying.

"Sweetie what's wrong?" Selena asked while bringing her in the room.

Selena sat Angela down next to Arya, and it took her a whole five minutes before she was ready to speak. "We left at three in the morning, and arrived at the cliff two hours later. I can't tell you how we got there, that's a secret. But it went wrong almost immediately…"

**A-N-G-E-L-A**

"There!" Her brother shouted. Eragon pointed to the lone cliff north of Melian. They quickly arrived **(And I will not tell you how; some things need to remain secret with Angela)** and walked slowly through the trees to the edge of the cliff. Angela wouldn't even be here if there wasn't a chance to bring Saphira back. Angela loved Saphira, and was devastated by her death. But none more so than Eragon, who had disappeared for six years and eight months. Those years were the worst of her life.

She was alone, and didn't pull any pranks anymore, didn't cause any trouble. Because everybody in Varnalond believed there greatest hero dead in the wild after he fled after the Battle for Ilirea.

But then there he was; nobody had recognized him at first. Only that he had a cloak over his shoulders and his shoulders hunched in a defeated expression. It was most unlike the old Eragon who looked courageous all the time. When the stranger had arrived at the palace gates, most or all of Varnalond was watching him, and Angela and her mother were at the gates. Then the man had pulled his hood back, and it was Eragon, but he was dead.

His appearance and soul that day still made Angela shiver at night. But that was the past, it was time focus on the present.

"Do you see anyone there?" Angela whispered to Eragon. Eragon poked his head through the trees and pulled back as soon as possible.

"Yes, a man in a black cloak." Eragon hesitated for a moment, then said. "I'm going out there alone, without you." She immediately began to protest, but she was silenced when he put his hand over her mouth. "Listen to me! If anything goes wrong I need you to go back to Varnalond and warn Arya and mother. If it goes right, then I'm not sure. But stay here!" He hissed.

She cursed him yet remained in the same spot when he walked through the foliage and out onto the top of the cliff.

The cloaked figure did not even acknowledge her brother's presence. Eragon slowly walked next to the man, and mirrored his movements and stared at the sunrise in the east.

She could barely here the words, but she could nonetheless. "Where is she?" Eragon asked.

"Do not worry Shadeslayer, she is here." The cloaked figure responded, and his voice sent chills through her body.

Eragon lost control and grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and stared him dead in the eyes. "Where is she!" He shouted. And in his screaming, the figures hood was swept back, and it revealed his features. She had never seen a shade before, but Eragon had three times. This one had maroon eyes, deathly pale skin and flaming red hair.

Eragon immediately dropped the shade and hissed, "Durza!"

"Me!" Durza said gleefully. And without uttering a word Eragon was frozen in mid-lunge with Brisingr drawn. "Yes, yes I promised you Saphira. And here she is!" From within his cloak he withdrew a sapphire gem. Eragon gasped; it was an eldunari!

"And here she is! Take a good look." Durza cooed sarcastically. "Because you will never see or speak with her EVER AGAIN!" And the shade squeezed the eldunari within his palms and it cracked along the middle, and Eragon screamed in pain. Cracks began to form all over the gem, and in one final moment, the eldunari shattered into a million pieces.

And the worst scream of pain she had ever heard erupted from Eragon mouth as the last chance of him ever seeing his Saphira again was destroyed.

Durza only smiled sadistically, "Good, now that's settled once and for all. Now as you know, the Varden camp are right there next to Melian. I'm sure they'd appreciate a half-breed prisoner wouldn't you?"

And without another word Eragon was flung through the air towards where she presumed the Varden camp was. Even though Eragon was flying at close to a hundred miles and hour she somehow knew that he wouldn't be hurt on impact. But he would be hurt within the next ten minutes of impact.

And following the last words Eragon spoke to her, she ran back to Varnalond.

**A/N: So many ironic things here. The **_**Talita**_**, and Eragon being captured by the Varden. SO IRONIC! If you have any questions just put it in the review!**


	10. Such a Male

**A/N: HEYLLO! It's a mix of hey and hello! So thanks you guys for reviewing, and now we start out with probably the most ironic part in this **_**entire**_** story. Eragon being captured by the Varden. This may or may not have torture scenes, so you can skip over them, but do read the dialogue if I do write a scene.**

**Disclaimer: Ok ok it's not Dora's… It's Diego's!**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

Yes, Arya was definitely the more mature one of the two. He had walked right into a trap just because he had a chance to see his Saphira again. He was an idiot. He should have never gone to the cliff. Eragon had thought of it being a trap, but had become so lost in his emotions that he had gone anyway.

And now, as he half a mile from the northern end of the Varden camp, he watched as several men on horses near him. They were probably scouts coming to see what had caused the mass explosion of dirt, dust, and small animals. Or to see just why the hell it was raining human beings.

Eragon didn't know what they were thinking; only that he himself couldn't move, at all. So he lay in the small crater he had created for the clatter of hooves to get closer and closer. He groaned and rolled over. The impact hadn't done much damage to his body, which was surprising because he was flying through the air at roughly two hundred miles an hour. He probably had a broken leg and ankle, and a few of his ribs may have been cracked. Eragon felt dried blood caking his face.

He lay probably twenty feet below ground level, and there were small puddles of moisture gathering in many places. There were no plants in the crater, only roots that lay strewn upon the ground.

At long last, the hooves were thirty feet away from him and he could hear boots striking the ground as the men dismounted their mares. Eragon lay on his stomach to prevent any light from coming into his eyes.

"Hey, somebody go get Commander Larson! There's a body down there!" Someone shouted. Obviously his accent was Surdan, as he fully pronounced his words.

"Well how do we get him out?" Another asked.

"You got any rope?" Eragon didn't hear anyone confirm it, but heard something being unlatched from a belt. "Someone goes down there and ties this around his waist and we pull him up. Then we pull the other up."

They were all silent for a moment. "Well who's going down there?" Asked the second man.

"No way in Angvard is I going down there." A third man said.

"Hellfire that distance is like twenty five feet!" A fourth man protested.

The argument went on and on, and Eragon wondered if he should get up to spare them from killing each other. So loud was there argument that Eragon did not hear two more tromping of hooves, until a man yelled, "Silence!" They all quieted. "What is going on here?"

The first man began to speak. "Well sir, we were scouting the ordinary route when Jenkins thought he saw something falling from the sky. At first we thought it was the drink from the night before, then a loud noise echoed around us. We then raced towards where the noise had come from and that's where we found him." The first man undeniably pointed towards himself.

Commander Larson grunted; "So who's going to get him." Nobody answered. "Fine, then I'll decide. Furnon, you go." He could hear the grumbling of a man who he presumed to be Furnon, and then the sound of boot hitting rock came from his left. He felt the ground quiver ever so slightly wherever the man's boot struck the ground.

When the man was finally less than a foot away, a gloved hand wrapped the rope around my abdomen and created a knot. Then the man turned around and shouted upwards, "Haul 'em up!" And immediately Eragon felt a horrible weight on his stomach, and it was pulling him. If his clothes hadn't already been torn and filthy, there were now.

And after being dragged vertically, which only worsened his wounds; he was laid upon the ground.

He felt so weak, unable to even move an inch. Commander Larson said to nobody in particular, "Alright, let's see what we can do. Let's check the head wound first."

Eragon felt gloved hands moved through the air and the Commander brushed Eragon's hair back, revealing his half-elf ears. Several swords became unsheathed, and one of them shouted, "Half-breed! Let's tie him up and take him to the Varden camp!"

His decision was met with hearty agreements, and they all mounted their horses and didn't even bother helping Eragon, so they dragged him on the ground. He finally lost consciousness.

* * *

"Kill him!" A man shouted, and Eragon stirred. He was being dragged by his elbows through the Varden camp, and many of the men and woman had formed a pathway and had occupied the other sides, roaring insults.

The guards treated him as cruelly as they could, and they often pricked Eragon with their swords to see his pain. The insults and jeering kept on, and some even threw rocks, creating more bruises and cuts on his skin. His shirt was horribly torn, and it was about to fall off. Most of his torso was revealed, and that was where the Varden people were aiming at.

After many more minutes of walking, they two men dragging Eragon halted, and Eragon looked up as to see why they had stopped. He was greeted with a strange sight.

Queen Islanzadi of the Elves was standing before him, eyes blazing with total anger. Nasuada was standing next to her, looking just as furious as well.

"Is there a reason you want me here? Because I got places to see, people to meet, or is it the other way around?" Eragon said, and then he literally began to think of which way it went.

And then the back of a hand slammed across his face. He opened his eyes again, and saw the two women staring at him, and Eragon stared back with mock humor.

"So _half-breed_," Islanzadi spitted out the word. "Arya is the one that defended you. I cannot see why, although her motives are always clouded. She never seems to know that I know what's best for her."

Eragon snorted, earning dozens of heated glares from the elves behind Islanzadi. "You know what's best?! Are you kidding me?! Who was the one that beat her as a child?" Islanzadi froze but did not answer. "Who was the one that banished her from Du Weldenvarden? Who was the one that treated her like dirt when she respected half-breeds?" Islanzadi was frozen, yet she could see the total anger in the woman's eyes.

"And who was there to heal her when she had been beaten? Who was the one that went with her when she was banished? Who was the one that cherished her and loved her that she could never sleep without him. Me." Eragon finished darkly. 'You can call me…Evan'. Remember that day elf!?" All of the elves drew their swords, as he totally disrespected Islanzadi by calling her an elf and not the _oh so_ _honorable queen_. She was vermin in his eyes. "That was the day you broke into her mind, delved into her darkest secrets! It was the day that she could never sleep alone again! And so who was there for her with a shoulder to cry on, or arms to sleep in, or a friend when she needed one. I was! So don't tell me you know what's best for Arya when you caused her so much pain!" Eragon took a breath, and glared at Islanzadi's eyes.

Then the elf began to speak with malice in her voice. "I know what is best for her. She is meant to be the queen of the elves, our pride and joy. She was as foolish as a child, always wanting to swordfight, always doing archery. And so I beat it into her that she was a Drottningu. But _you_," the elf spitted. "You got in her way of glory, of honor to her family! You corrupted her mind and made it into what you wanted. You took her away from me and forced me to banish her from her home. No doubt she does want to return to her mother's arms for comfort."

Eragon was totally…befuddled. Was this elf deluded? "Are you stupid?"

The elf was brought out of her reverie and stared at Eragon. "She does not want to even see you ever again! I rescued her from being hung; I saved her. You did no such thing."

The elf sneered and said, "Take this vermin to the torture tent; we need some answers from it." Eragon was dragged away by three elves and taken to a pitch black tent.

_I really should've gotten used to this by now._

**A-R-Y-A**

It had been a week. A whole week since Eragon's capture by the Shade Durza _again. _Arya had become reclusive and often hid in Eragon's room for comfort. Angela was with her most of the time, always comforting her. There had been a council meeting and Arya proposed, more over demanded, that go and rescue Eragon from the Varden. All of the new-councils, as Eragon called them, vehemently opposed the idea.

"If he had accepted being a leader we would've gone after him, but he is not our leader. What use to us is one dead half-elf?" Arya wanted to kill that creature as soon as she could, and she was about to leap across the table and strangle the life out of him, when she was restrained by Angela and Selena. So now, a group of eleven people were about to set out to rescue Eragon from the Varden, against the council's wishes.

So now here she was, standing in the crow's nest on the _Talita. _They had departed an hour previous, and Arya took it upon herself to remember all of the other names of the people on the ship. There was Cadoc, who was Selena's father, and he had surprisingly supported Selena's relationship with Brom. There was an Urgal named Yarbog, who was the father of Galzra and another Urgal who had not accompanied them. There was a dwarf named Kvistor, and a human named Jeod who was an old friend of Brom's.

The half-breeds names were Blodhgarm, who was rumored to be an elf-werewolf hybrid, although Arya wasn't very sure. There was Yaela, who was a simple half-elf. Another half-elf whose name was Laufin. An Urgal-human breed named Galzra. And most surprising of all, a half-elf whose name was Murtagh. Murtagh was the son of Selena and Morzan, but Selena was raped by Morzan and gave birth to Murtagh. According to Angela Murtagh always treated Brom like his real father and Eragon and Angela his true siblings. His attitude towards rescuing Eragon had only proven this fact tenfold, as he was just about hell bent on getting him back.

As a matter of fact, all of the half-breeds were Eragon's closest friends, and they all wanted Eragon back.

But besides the fact that Eragon was captured, Arya was seasick. And she was going to approach Angela about it, probably for a salve for concoction. Climbing down the ladder that led to the crow's nest (Arya and Selena installed it because she began to cut important ropes), she approached the nearest person, who happened to be Murtagh.

"Murtagh," she said to gain his attention.

He turned around and smiled, "Ah, if it isn't Arya. Is there something you need?"

Arya nodded, "Yes, I was wondering where Angela was. I'm afraid I'm getting seasick."

Murtagh chuckled. "Seasick eh? Doesn't seem likely as Eragon and I put enchantments on the boat to help ease the seasickness. Are you sure it's seasickness?"

Arya nodded, "What else could -". Before she could finish a wave of nausea and she scrambled to the railing of the boat and vomited out her lunch in the ocean. Murtagh was fortunately there holding her hair back. She felt dizzy, and she vaguely heard Murtagh say, "Sit down, I'll go get Angela." She nodded wearily and sat down ungracefully leaning against the railing of the ship.

Arya was barely awake when she heard three pairs of feet, instead of two rush across the deck towards her.

Murtagh asked, "What could possibly be wrong with her? She _can't_ be seasick."

She hardly heard Angela say, "Only one way to find out. Atra eka sjon Arya." Let me see Arya. She felt her body being scanned, and she realized Anglea must have been looking _inside_ her body. She heard Eragon's twin sister gasp, and then fall to the ground in a sitting position.

"Angela what's the matter? What's wrong with Arya?" Selena asked.

Arya saw a wide grin spread across the herbalist's face. "Nothing is wrong with her mother, in fact, quite the opposite." Selena's eyes went wide in understanding, but Arya was still clueless as to what they were talking about. Apparently she wasn't the only one. "I'm sorry, but would you care to elaborate?"

Angela groaned in frustration. "Murtagh you are so... _male_! Isn't it obvious?! Arya's pregnant!"

* * *

**A/N: Seasick my BUTT! So I finally introduced Murtagh. YAY for Murtgah! Roran will be coming in the next chapter, but I will not do his POV. So I don't know much about elf pregnancy, so I went and look it up in Tolkien's guide something something. It was rather ridiculous so I say they are pregnant for... six months! **


	11. Who Have You Had Sex With Lately?

**A/N: Welcome readers of all races! Half-elves, half-dwarves, half-Urgals, dwarf-elves, Urgal-dwarves and Pure Bloods! So here we are, Eragon being captured by the Varden.**

**Disclaimer: What's Dora's monkey's name? Not mine.**

**And to let you guys know, this is not one week later like Arya last chapter, this is an hour or so after the Eragon section of last chapter.**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

Eragon had to give the elves some credit; they did know how to make a prisoner wait in fear for their torture. But who said Eragon was in fear? If he could withstand the cruelest torture of Galbatorix, then he could go by with and elf's. He wondered if his family and friends missed him.

_Of course they do, why would you think that?_ A voice in the back of his mind said. Eragon didn't really know, but if they missed him then Eragon knew that they were planning to break him out. Eragon wished they wouldn't; there was the entire might of the elven, dwarf, and Varden army in _one_ camp. Eragon had escaped from the Varden before, but only by using the Hate Spell, and the results were not pretty.

And then there was another problem. Usually Eragon would just be able to break out of the tent by using magic within his head, which was much easier considering he was a half-elf. He didn't know why, but it just was. However, the elves, in their fury towards the half-elf (That would be Eragon by the way) had combined their magic and created magical chains that stopped Eragon from using magic. Every time he tried, a bout of pain rushed forth within his body and blood seemed to gather in his mouth.

The ground in front of him was stained red from all the blood Eragon had spat out and he tried mind magic often, which resulted in the lovely blood at his knees.

Then he vaguely heard several dainty footsteps walking towards "his" tent. Only and elf could walk like that, and there were at ten elves walking towards the torture tent.

He heard Islanzadi say, "Eight of you stay out here, no one goes in without my saying." And without waiting for a response, Islanzadi walked in the tent with two elves. Eragon recognized one of the elves, and it was probably one of Eragon's worst fans. The elf's name was Vanir, and the elf hated Eragon from the first day he laid eyes upon him. This was two days after he met Arya and he was teaching her sparring techniques.

Vanir had probably only been around twenty years old at the time, and it was _very_ obvious that he was interested in Arya. The elf had even gone so far as to threaten Eragon to stay away from Arya. Eragon had thrown him into a tree.

Now here the elf was, looking at Eragon with even more disgust, if that was possible, than he had eighty years previous.

"I have guests! Please, make yourself at home." Eragon said to them welcomingly.

The elves looked at him coldly, and didn't move. "So your name is Eragon? I wonder why your parents wanted to disgrace the name of the first rider like that. But never mind that; let's get to business shall we?" Islanzadi said. "Now, I give you two options. One: You can tell me everything about the half-breeds and where my daughter is, and we shall give you a swift death. Two: You can not tell me anything about the half-breeds and where my daughter is, and we will torture it out of you. Which one will it be?"

Eragon pretended to think about it. "Well, as tempting as option number one is… I'll have to go with number two."

The elves seemed taken aback, as if they were expecting him to choose the first option and avoid torture. Then Islanzadi regained her composure, "I had hoped it would not come to this. I do not understand why you will not save my daughter, but so be it."

"You don't understand? You don't understand?! No, you don't. You haven't been locked away in the dungeons of Uru'baen for over a year and tortured by the king every single day! There is nothing you can do that will make me tell you anything about your daughter or my kin. So torture away."

The elves seemed totally surprised by his proclamation. Vanir spoke up, "Uru'baen eh? Well if you were directly tortured by the king himself, then we have to thank him for at least one thing of good he has done."

Eragon growled, "Come at me then bastards."

Islanzadi nodded, "I shall leave my torturers to you. If you ever want to speak up, do not hesitate to do so."

And the bitch of an elf left the tent.

Vanir and the other elf smiled at him and walked over to the table in the corner. Vanir picked up a cylinder that had a hole on one side.

"This half-breed is what I call the Bone-Crusher. One of your limbs goes inside the hole, and your bones will be crushed. Let us begin." Eragon tried to reach out his mind towards the two elves, but found it was encased within his head and unable to reach out. No matter how hard he pushed outwards the barrier wouldn't yield.

_Well, I gotta give it to the elves; you do have some fancy torture devices._

**A-R-Y-A**

"PREGNANT?!" Arya shouted. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I'M PREGNANT?!"

Angela kept a cool demeanor, "Well being pregnant means you a baby growing inside of –"

"I know what it means!' Arya shouted.

Angela then looked generally confused, "Then why are you so confused?"

"I can't be pregnant!"

Murtagh then began to speak, "You very well can. Who have you had sex with lately?"

"Murtagh! You don't just go around asking people that!" His mother shouted, and then proceeded to smack him upside the head. He then apologized at the influence of his mother.

"Well Arya?" Angela said.

"Well what?"

"Who have you had sex with lately?" Angela asked. Selena didn't hit Angela.

"So when Angela asks that it's ok, but it's not when I ask?!" Murtagh shouted.

"Yes," all three women replied in unison. "So who have you had sex with lately?" Angela repeated.

"Um…" This was not the kind of thing Arya was comfortable talking about, so she 'Eragon' as quickly as possible.

"What was that?" Selena asked.

"Eragon," she whispered embarrassed.

Angela laughed, "I knew it! Who else would you have sex with?" Arya blushed furiously and looked down at the floor. Selena then slapped Angela upside the head.

Selena then proceeded to ask, "Is it a boy or a girl?" Arya was confused; how was she supposed to know? Selena then explained, "All elves know the gender of their baby when they are in their womb, so I ask again. Is it a boy or a girl?"

Arya was speechless, but tried to find out. She reached her mind towards her stomach _through _her body. When she reached the fetus, she yelped out loud. She had actually touched _her_ baby with her mind. Stepping into the baby's mind, she explored it, feeling everything it felt. And the gender was all around the baby's mind. It had a feminine touch to it, and thought, or lack thereof, in a feminine way.

Pulling her mind out of her little girl, she announced to the crowd, "It's a girl."

Angela squealed in delight and hugged Arya tightly. She then proceeded to tell Arya strange things like what a baby could look like if Arya ate a frog in the recent future.

Meanwhile, Murtagh groaned and it earned the attention of the three females. They all gave him a stern look, and he cowered. "Well, it um, well…Before Arya got here it was two males and two females, and it was even. Then Arya arrived and it became three females and two males, but now its four women and two men!"

Arya growled menacingly, "Do _not_ insult my and Eragon's girl. Women are much more sensible than men and it takes at least ten women to watch over one man! But imagine our pain that we only now have four to watch over two!"

Murtagh shrugged, and then backed away slowly. When he was under the deck Angela and Selena embraced Arya tightly.

"I'm so happy for you and Eragon child. You know elves cherish children above all else, and you have created a wonderful life." Selena said with a smile.

Arya couldn't help but smile either, but then her smile faded from her face. If only Eragon was here to discover that in six months he would father a little baby girl. For the second time that day, she sat down against the railing. Angela sat next to her while Selena said she was going to gather everyone else to celebrate.

Angela noticed the look of sadness on her friend's face. "Don't worry Arya, we will get Eragon back."

"But what if we don't? What if my little girl grows up without a father?" Arya asked with silent tears flowing down her face. She leaned her head down on Angela's should and wept for Eragon's sake.

"We will get Eragon to his family." Angela vowed in the Ancient Language.

"Thank you Angela." Arya said with a sad smile.

Angela smiled and laughed. "What is so funny?"

"I'm going to be an aunt!" Angela exclaimed. "And mother will be a grandmother! Oh, I bet she'll think she's so old. And grandpa is going to be a great-grandfather! Oh and it goes on and on!"

Arya laughed as well, but could not keep the pang of sadness out of her heart. _I will get you back Eragon. For me and for our baby._

**A/N: Sorry it was so short, but I really don't have a choice. There's a major ice storm about to hit, and it's really really big. I may not update tomorrow, but I will try my absolute best. But of course I will still type, and if the ice storm ends in three days, then I'll have three days worth of chapters to put up. **

** I hope I make it out of this storm, cause it's going to be bad.**


	12. Crushed Pine Needles

**A/N: So I'm writing this about ten minutes after I posted Chapter 11 because I wanted to get started on it right away. So now Eragon has been in the Varden camp for a week and he's caught up with Arya and the gang. I changed the pregnancy thing to 3 to 4 months.**

**So I have no internet connection, but I don't need it to use Microsoft Word do I?**

**Disclaimer: MONEKY TOASTER STROODLES... Why the hell did I just say that? Not mine.**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

It had been a week. One week of torture by _elves_. Eragon always knew they were total bastards behind their calm, cool demeanor. But elves were different than Galbatorix. They had thousands of years to perfect their torture methods, so they were generally more advanced than the Oath-Breaker's.

He couldn't even remember his own name. He didn't know why he was there, what was going on, but he knew he would have to keep silent. The people of the Varden were unnerved by the lack of his screams. The half-elf had not screamed or begged for mercy once, and a mob of men actually came up to the tent and demand to know why they weren't torturing him.

An elf that looked regal and had a diadem on her head calmed the crowd down and let one of the men enter the tent where he was being tortured. The half-elf was delirious at the time, so he barely registered the fact that he was being watched.

The woman with the diadem, who he presumed to be the queen of the elves, told the man how they were torturing him. And then the very next day an ebony-skinned woman walked into the tent and requested to know there progress.

"How much information have you gathered from the half-breed?" The woman asked.

One of the elves torturing him looked unnerved, and the woman repeated her question.

"No information Lady Nasuada, he hasn't said a word or even screamed since we began," the elf said and looked at the half-elf with disgust. The half-elf wondered if he had met this man before. And again, for the thousandth time that week, he attempted to remember who he was, who anybody was.

"What do you mean no information?! Surely he must have said something!" The woman shouted. The elves did not bristle with anger, instead the appeared nervous. He wondered how important the woman must have been.

"He has not uttered a word. No scream, no shout, no begging. Nothing; he has said nothing." And elf with silver hair said.

"Do you know why?" The woman asked again.

"No my lady, all he ever thinks of when we try to breach his mind is an elf with raven hair and emerald eyes, but he isn't actually thinking of her." The elf with black hair said.

"What do you mean?" The female leader asked.

"Well, he isn't thinking of them, but his barriers are made of _her_. We plan to tell Queen Islanzadi as soon as possible." The silver haired elf said.

"I see…" The woman said trailing off. And speaking of the devil (Devilish bitch of an elf), the queen of the elves walked into the tent. The half-elf looked at Queen Islanzadi curiously. The black haired elf saw his gaze and back handed him.

"Do not look at our queen half-breed!" The elf spitted out. Then he turned around and faced the queen. They then proceeded to speak strange words in a language that the half-elf felt he knew, but could not remember it. It seemed like they were greeting each other.

Queen Islanzadi then asked, "What information have you gathered?"

If anything, the two elves who had brutally tortured the half-elf for a week looked very terrified.

"Well my queen, while we have been torturing him most horribly, he has revealed nothing." The silver haired elf said lowly. Queen Islanzadi looked unnerved, but said nothing. "However, there is one thing." The queen snapped her head back and looked at the elf who had spoken. "When we attempt and breach his mind, we see a picture of a raven haired elf with emerald eyes. The half-breed imagines the elf with unmistakable love, but the worst part is not that my queen, it's Arya."

Islanzadi was surprised to say the least, but she made up for it in her anger. "YOU FILTHY HALF-BREED FELL IN LOVE WITH MY DAUGHTER?!" The half-elf couldn't remember who this "Arya" was, but she must've had raven hair and emerald eyes. In the queen's rage, she grabbed a whip from the large table of instruments and whipped the half-elf straight across the eyes. But the pain wasn't the worst part; it was the fact that she whipped his eyes horizontally, so it hit both of them.

The half-elf was blind.

**A-R-Y-A**

"So elves are pregnant for three to four months?" Murtagh asked.

"Yes, that's why my stomach is larger than it should be at this stage compared to a human pregnancy." Arya explained. It was true; Arya's stomach was about half an inch larger than it had been a week previous. Every so often, which was about every five minutes, Arya would reach out her mind and listen to her baby's thoughts. Arya could spend hours, days even, listening to what went on in her little girl's mind.

And Arya was thankful that they were off the _Talita_ and on dry land now, as the rocking of the ship made her stomach hurl. They were about six miles east of Feinster and heading to where Angela knew the Varden to be. She had scouted ahead and had been back within the next two hours saying that the Varden were at the same spot they were at when they had rescued Arya. But of course they had gone to Melian and back so they had moved of course.

As of now they were all on horses; Arya alone on Snowfire; Angela and Selena on Cadoc (the horse); Murtagh and Yaela on a horse named Tornac; Yarbog was on a horse alone; (the elf) Cadoc was on a horse with Jeod. Kvistor was occupying a feldunost, Yarbog was on a very large horse, and the rest of the half-breeds were running.

The horses were going as half as fast as they could, as Arya couldn't take it. But the worst of the pregnancy had yet to come. The mood swings **(OH YEAH!)**, the morning sickness, and the craving of strange foods. She hoped she would have Eragon with her to help deal with such things. And once again, she was reminded that Eragon was not with her, and her stomach seemed to lurch at the thought. Whether it was the baby kicking or Arya's emotions that were acting up she didn't know.

All of the horses stopped when Angela raised her hand. "We'll be at the Varden camp in an hour. We need to stop in that small forest," she pointed towards a forest that seemed to be only a few miles away from the Varden camp, "and plan on how to rescue Eragon." Then without any word from anyone else, she kicked her horse lightly on its spurs and directed it towards the trees. No one questioned Angela, so Arya didn't either.

About fifty minutes later, this was ten minutes from the Varden, Arya was lagging behind. Her stomach was cramped, and she felt as if she was going to throw up, again. So it was as no surprise when her horse walked into the clearing that some were preparing dinner, while others were planning on how to get Eragon out. She immediately went to where they were planning. The group consisted of Angela, Blodhgarm, Murtagh, and Kvistor.

"Should we go in head on?" Kvistor suggested.

"Too risky, we could always sneak in." Murtagh said.

Angela shook her head, "We don't even know where Eragon is, so that is pretty useless."

Arya sat down ungracefully on the ground and listened to the four of them try and come up with plans to rescue their sibling and friend. Setting fire to a part of the forest, creating a tunnel and collapsing it under the Varden camp, creating a diversion on the northern part of the camp; but all of theses were discarded as they didn't know where Eragon was. And it would be far too risky to reach out with their minds and search for him, as the elves were abundant in the camp.

"Why don't we just ask them?" Arya blurted out. All heads in the camp turned towards her. Their faces clearly wanted an explanation. "Why don't we just go in, ask them where he is, and get him out?"

Murtagh snorted, "In case you haven't noticed, we aren't exactly friends with the Varden, what makes you think they're going just tell us where he is?" Others nodded there heads in agreement. Angela seemed to know what she was thinking, but said nothing.

"I am Queen Islanzadi's daughter, no matter how much I resent that fact. They won't kill me on sight, but it won't be pretty either." Arya said.

"You are not going in alone; you're pregnant with a baby girl." Selena said.

"And that's why I'm going with her!" Angela said enthusiastically. Arya really did wonder if Angela had any sanity left within her mind.

"They may not kill Arya, but they will kill you." Jeod commented.

Angela shrugged, "Nah, I'll risk it."

After an hour of working out the details, it was near mid afternoon, and it was approximately four days since they had reached land. They decided Arya and Angela were going to walk into the camp in front of every single person, so they would be noticed. And they would walk right up to the main pavilion, which was where the leaders resided. Arya would ask where Eragon was, and they would have to improvise from there. Of course, while everyone was focused on those two, the rest of their contingent would be sneaking into the camp.

And now here they were; Arya had her arm wrapped around Angela's shoulders as she couldn't walk very well due to her pregnancy. At first they began fast, so as to get out of the trees and slip through the sentries that so poorly guarded the Varden camp. But when they go past the makeshift gate, they began a slow walk. Not many noticed them at first, but they certainly gained attention. An elf walking straight down the middle of the pathway with a woman a few may have recognized as Angela did catch attention. As of course the people who knew Angela before now knew that she was a half-elf.

Arya had her other hand protectively over her stomach, and this action did not go unnoticed by the people of the Varden, but the one question she did here frequently was, "Who is the father?"

**HALF-ELF**(It's Eragon)

He couldn't see, but he did feel the pain. The half-elf heard Queen Islanzadi shout, "Serves you right!" He could practically feel the woman's anger at him falling in love with the elf called Arya. The half-elf pictured the woman in his mind, and even though it was just an image, he could see why he fell in love with her in the first place.

Suddenly an elf, he only knew it was an elf because of his or hers dainty footsteps, burst into the tent. The half-elf felt someone wrap something around his eyes, and he presumed it to be a strip of cloth because he was blind.

_At the least the elves have some sort of compassion._ He thought to himself.

He heard the elf catching his breath, before saying the greeting in the strange tongue. The half-elf didn't see the point in the greetings, as it took up far too much time that could be used on more important things, like torturing him for instance.

"Queen Islanzadi, it is an emergency, you daughter and the half-elf Angela are in the camp." The elf said.

"What do you mean?" Islanzadi asked.

"My lady, they are just walking through the camp towards the leaders' pavilion. I ordered no one to attack them just in case, but that is not all." He could feel as if the queen raised her eyebrows. "Arya had one arm wrapped around the half-breeds shoulders, and one hand rested on her stomach. I do not like to assume things, but…" The elf trailed off, but the half-elf understood the meaning. The elf Arya probably was either injured or pregnant, the second of which more likely.

"Thank you Lord Dathedr, let us go meet them. And get someone to bring this half-breed with us." The queen commanded angrily.

"Yes my lady." Lord Dathedr said. After a minute or so of turning his head back and forth trying to see something, _anything_, he felt to chains around his hands unlocks. He felt that he could do something to escape, but it escaped his mind before he could escape himself.

The elves dragged him out of the tent by his elbows, and he was dragged carelessly. His back, having already been whipped mercilessly started bleeding again. His left leg was broken due to the elves new mechanism, so it hurt even more. He had hundreds of other wounds, burn marks, knife marks, even and whips marks all over his body. The half-elf presumed he looked like a tortured mess.

After the Varden noticed his removal from the torture tent, horrid insults filled the hair. One of them made him angrier above them all, 'whoreson'. The half-elf couldn't remember who is mother was, but he knew she wasn't a whore.

After several minutes of the elves dragging him through the camp, they abruptly stopped at what the half-elf presumed to be the leaders' pavilion. He could feel that Lady Nasuada and Queen Islanzadi were there as well, but he couldn't remember the other commander's names so he didn't know who else could've been there.

And then all of a sudden, a familiar fragrance was washed over him. Crushed pine needles. He knew who it was, and his memories came back to him. Arya was there to rescue him.

**A/N: YAY! So the ice storm came and I was out of power for about sixteen hours, but thankfully my computer can go a while without needing to be plugged in. So I wrote a bunch and now it's done. If you have any questions please feel free to ask, but do not suggest a baby name for Eragon and Arya's baby. Do not, I already have one. **


	13. Escape From the Varden Again

**A/N: Yes yes welcome! Thank you reviewers who reviewed, and thanks for telling me to stay safe, which was pretty easy. We left off where Arya was in the Varden camp with Angela and about to rescue Eragon. But she's gotta to talk with her mother first.**

**Ok, so I'm really curious. I have a question for you guys. Do you love/like writing? If so, why?**

**The question came to me and I'd like to know why others might like writing. If you want to know why I love writing, I'll tell you next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: What are Toaster Stroodles? It's such a weird name, not mine.**

**A-R-Y-A**

She couldn't help but gasp at the sight of Eragon. His entire body was covered in gashes and every type of wound imaginable. If he was in pain, he was hiding it well. He was blindfolded, but Arya could tell it wasn't because they didn't want him to see, it was because he couldn't see. Blood dripped out from under the blindfold, and Arya reasoned that he was blind. She mentally cursed her "mother" and every single elf in the Varden camp.

Before she could get his attention, her mother cleared her throat, obviously asking for attention. "Arya, welcome back." What the hell was she talking about? Arya hated her mother because of what she did to her when she was a child. Arya was beaten and her mind broken into, but that was why she fell in love with Eragon. Islanzadi held out her arms as if expecting Arya to rush into them and hug her. She was obviously deluded.

Eragon spoke, "What did I tell you?" Arya didn't know what he was talking about, but she was happy that she heard his voice. Islanzadi knew though, and unlatched the whip on her belt and whipped Eragon across the chest. He winced, but didn't cry out. Arya flinched as well at the sight of her mother hurting Eragon. If it came between an option of Eragon or her mother, Eragon would win every day.

Arya decided to speak up, "Yes well, if you would give us Eragon we will walk out of here peacefully and no one will die." It took a full five seconds for everybody within earshot to comprehend what she had said, and most of the Varden broke out into laughter.

"'No one will die?' There's only three of you, and why would you to want to even lay eyes on this filthy half-breed anyway?" A man with a beard boomed out.

"What's your name?" Arya asked.

The man seemed confused, "Roran Stronghammer, why?"

"So I can kill you later." Arya said menacingly. That only made the men break out into even more laughter. Even Nasuada was chuckling.

They all quieted when Islanzadi raised her hand. "Yes well, what is your _real_ reason for coming here?"

Arya raised her eyebrows, did she not just tell them? "She just said why. We're here to get Eragon, and then leave." Angela enunciated so it made them sound like dimwits.

One of Eragon's torturers burst out, "Do not speak in the presence of our queen _half-breed_!"

Angela did not even seem fazed. "I can speak when I want, where I want, and however I want. I can speak to any elf, even one such as stupid as Islanzadi." All of the elves drew their swords and began to rush at her, but Angela raised her right hand and they all stopped in place. All of them seemed shocked to say the least, using mental magic could destroy your entire being if you weren't careful enough.

Nasuada spoke again, "You cannot be here to rescue the half-breed."

Arya was confused again, "And why not…?"

Islanzadi laughed, "Because he is a half-breed, why would you want to rescue him?"

"Because I love him!" Arya shouted angrily. How dare they question her actions for rescuing Eragon! _Well, they were going to find out sooner or later, _she thought to herself.

All of the Varden stopped dead when they heared her words. "What?" Her mother said breathlessly.

"I love Eragon Shadeslayer," Arya repeated. All of the crowd was silent.

Then the man Roran spoke up again, "Impossible. No one can love a half-breed, he probably put you under some spell."

Arya growled, "I am under no spell! I have known Eragon for eighty-nine years!" If looks could kill, Roran would be a pile of ash floating in the wind and about to fall into a volcano; that was how she was looking at him.

"Anyway…" Eragon said strangely. "Would you guys mind telling me WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE!In case none of you have noticed, I'M BLIND!" There was a shout behind her, and Arya usually would have discarded it if not for the fact that it was an elf who had shouted. Turning her head slightly, she saw it was Selena marching down the pathway.

"Eragon what have I told you about shouting?" Selena said scoldingly.

"Not to," Eragon said drawingly.

"Exactly!" Selena said. It was strange how Selena could act like a mother in the worst of situations.

"Right yes well," Islanzadi said to clear things. "Can we put another matter to rest before we kill you all?" Without waiting for an answer, she said, "I would like to know why you are standing like that."

"Like what?" Arya asked feigning ignorance to her question.

"Like that," she said and pointed towards her. "With your arm around the half-breeds shoulders _and_ your hand on your stomach. Care to explain?"

Arya narrowed her eyebrows and contacted Angela and Selena mentally, _Um, what now?_

Naturally Angela came up with a plan first, _Option A: We could say you're pregnant and kill everyone here. Option B: We could say you're pregnant and escape and then blow up the Varden camp. Pick whichever cathes your fancy._ That woman was insane.

_Neither_, Arya said quickly. "What's the harm?" She asked herself under her breath, but most of the elves nearby must've heard it. "So what if I am?"

Islanzadi's eyebrows narrowed, "It all depends on who the father is, and who may he be?"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, you're pregnant? Who have you had sex with lately?" Eragon asked.

"Eragon! I already got onto your brother about asking that question, don't make me go over there and slap you!" His mother scolded.

Arya sighed, "The father of my baby is Eragon Shadeslayer." All of the elves gasped and pointed every single weapon they contained towards Eragon, who couldn't see. "Why is it so quiet?" He asked in a small voice. He must not have heard her words.

"Eragon!" His head whipped towards hers even though he was blind. "You are the father of my baby!" Eragon was stunned for a good five seconds before he broke out into a wide smile.

"I'd honestly leap for joy, but my leg is broken and my back is sorta shredded to pieces. But you get my point. Is it a boy or a girl?" He asked with his goofy grin still on his face.

"Eragon!" Angela said, "Now is not the time for this."

"Oh right," Eragon said sheepishly.

All of the elves bristled with anger, but Islanzadi looked the most furious. "How could you mate with this half-breed?!" Her face was red, and her usual calm and emotionless façade was gone. "Why did you mate with this half-breed?!"

"Because I love him." Arya said with as much force as possible. _Angela, when exactly are we going to be able to leave here with Eragon?_

_Everyone should be in position in about five minutes, so we should probably stall_ Angela replied.

_I have been stalling! _Arya shouted to Angela. "May I go to Eragon?" Arya asked to her mother.

"No." Her mother said. Angela raised her hand and her palm began to glow.

"I suggest that you let Arya see her mate before I blast you to pieces." Angela said smoothly. Islanzadi looked red in the face, but then nodded. Angela and Arya began to walk over to Eragon. And when they were close enough, Arya fell to her knees so she could be eye level with him, even though he was blind.

"Hi," Eragon said. His word could not help but elicit a laugh from her.

"Hello Eragon," she responded with a happy smile on her face. She could tell that he was trying to smile, but his face had been whipped so it was rather difficult.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Eragon asked.

"It's a girl." She said beaming.

"Good, we need more females in this world." Eragon said happily. Arya cupped his face in her hands, and she ignored the blood that began to stain her hands.

"We're going to get you out of here Eragon." Arya said forcefully.

"I know," he said. Arya chuckled. He grimaced in pain, and Arya's anger got ahold of her. Contacting Angela she asked, _are they ready?_

_Thirty seconds,_ was her reply. _The code word is "Chaos"._

"That's enough!" Islanzadi shouted, "Get away from him!"

Arya turned her head towards her mother, but did not remove her hands, "Make me."

The elven queen began to march over to the couple, but something startling happened. Eragon raised his right arm, and you could tell that it was paining him to do so. And without saying anything, his Gedwey Ignasia began to glow, and all of the elves gasped. "You will not touch her _elf_. Remember who beat her as a child, remember who broke into her mind? That was you." And without saying a word, the elven queen was stopped in place. "I suggest you say nothing more, or I'll break you from bottom to top."

"You're bluffing," her mother spit out. And suddenly she cried in pain, and her left foot was stuck out at an odd angle.

"I am not bluffing, just releasing my anger." Eragon said.

"How are you using magic?! We drugged you!" Islanzadi shouted. Another crack and the elf's other foot was broken.

"You did drug me, and I still can't remember the words. But mental magic doesn't require words does it? And even before then I wasn't able to use magic because of the chains. But no elf is fully trained in magic, and most of them don't even know what it is, or ever experiencedit before. The most powerful magic of all, is love." Arya had to admit, Eragon did have a way with words.

Reasoning that it had been thirty seconds, she shouted, "Chaos!" No one in the area knew why she had said that besides herself, Angela, Selena, and surprisingly Eragon. There was a sudden outburst in the crowds, and there was a blast of smoke from several areas around the camp.

All of the elves looked towards the disturbances, and the half-breeds took advantage of this. Drawing her sword, she slashed at the silver haired elf who was holding Eragon, and it hit his stomach. Entrails spilling from to the ground, the elf collapsed dead. All of the elves were still in shock and they didn't notice Angela grabbed Eragon until it was too late.

She heard a loud and distinct whistle of the roar of the crowd, and six horses burst through the crowd. Snowfire, Cadoc, Tornac, and the other horses she didn't know the name of came and halted in front of the four. Arrows and spears were thrown towards them, but their strong wards held.

"Wait!" Eragon shouted. Arya looked at him incredulously, what was he doing? Eragon let go of Arya and managed to walk over to Islanzadi's crumpled form. She watched him pick up a spear upon the ground, and she knew what he was going to do. She didn't stop him, not at all. She wasn't a cruel or vengeful person, but this was Eragon, and she didn't want to stop him.

He pointed the spear towards the queen's neck and said, "You tortured an innocent little girl, you broke her so bad that she couldn't sleep alone, and she still can't. You hurt my little one, and for that, you can rot in Angvard's halls for the rest of eternity." And he plunged the spear through her neck.

Before anybody knew that Queen Islanzadi was dead, Eragon had already managed to stumble over to Snowfire, how he navigated even though he was blind was beyond her. She helped onto the horse, and saw the rest of the half-breeds and their company on horses or preparing to run. With a sharp, terse nod to them all, they all began to run, gallop, or in Blodhgarms case, prowl through the camp westward.

Arya smiled and ignored all of the spears and arrows rushing their way towards them, because Eragon had his arms resting on her abdomen, right where their little baby was.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the campsite they had used the previous morning. She told Eragon to stay on the horse while they quickly began to dispell any signs of inhabitation. It took a total of fifteen minutes, which was far too long, to destroy any evidence of their resting area.

When they began racing out of the small area of trees, they were not all surprised when over a hundred elves on horses caught sight of them and began flying towards them on their steeds.

_We can't go back to Varnalond!_ Angela shouted in their minds.

_Why not?_ Blodhgarm purred.

_We can't reveal the location of a century and a half secret city! We'll practically be condemning them all to death. _Galzra said.

_Then where do we go?_ Arya asked.

It took a few moments before Selena said, _to Carvahall_.

**A/N: TO CARVAHALL! WOOHOO! Alright, they are out of the Varden camp and heading to Carvahall. And remember to tell me why you love/like writing, I want to know!**


	14. What Will We Name Her?

**A/N: '**_You tortured an innocent little girl; you broke her so bad that she couldn't sleep alone that night, and she still can't. You hurt my little one, and for that, you can rot in Angvard's halls for the rest of eternity.'_** – **Eragon Shadeslayer.

**Ooh, it gives me chills! Yes, welcome back to Chapter 14! And I received a PM from a reader of mine and he asked me, "**How do you update so fast and have such good quantity and quality?**" **

**Or something likes that, I can't really remember. Well, I just thought I should tell you all outright. Every single night, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT (**_**In case none of you have noticed, I do put up a chapter every single day**_**.) I begin writing the next chapter of Half-Breed at roughly 11:00 P.M and usually finish at about 2:00 A.M, yes, I don't sleep. **

**Krokodyl: You really have some colorful torture methods, I recommend you see a doctor. XD**

**But, on a much much much happier note, some of you may remember seeing a story coming out recently named 'The Hidden God.' It's written by my FF friend Middleearthmidget! In all honesty I did give him the title but screw that!****The story itself is amazing, well, there is only one chapter but I've actually read the next two, but you shan't be disappointed! Read it… once you're done with this of course.**

**Disclaimer: I am going to start twirling around in a princess-like motion until I die. Not mine. **

**Seven hours, thirteen minutes, and forty-seven seconds after they escaped from the Varden. **

**A-R-Y-A**

It had been seven hours, thirteen minutes, and fifty-three seconds since they had escaped from the Varden. They hadn't made much progress going north, as they were trying to lose the elves on their trail. To say they were upset at the loss of their queen was a large understatement. They were enraged and had used a large assortment of spells to try to kill them. All of them failed, so they resorted to trying to hinder their progress. That failed too. When they became incredibly irksome, Blodhgarm hid in a small clump of foliage and when the elves were passing by, used a spell that created a one hundred foot high crater into the earth, trapping the elves for a good while. The spell had incredibly drained the half-wolf, so Selena opted to let him ride Cadoc with Angela.

Angela had a dreamy looked on her face at the moment, probably because she was pressed up against Blodhgarm. Arya did notice that Blodhgarm's scent was strange, and she may have found it attractive except for the simple fact of, it wasn't. Not to her anyway. She found Eragon's smell intoxicating, and even though he was blindfolded and had just been tortured, his smell was musky and heavenly at the same time.

When they were absolutely sure that no elves were following them, Angela raised her hand. "We need to rest and heal Eragon." She turned to look at Eragon behind her and she grimaced. "Badly, let's go." And she led them off the path. It was probably a good ten miles before the half-elf stopped in a large clearing that was able to hold the twelve of them comfortingly.

Eight of them began to set up camp, while Arya and Murtagh began to lower a half-conscious Eragon onto a blanket.

"Lay he on his stomach, his back will probably be the worst." Angela looked at Arya and said, "You may want to look away." Arya looked hard into Angela's eyes and the half-elf sighed. Murtagh and Selena pulled Eragon onto his stomach, and Arya could not help but gasp, bring her hands to her mouth, and have tears fall silently from her eyes at the same time. _Oh Eragon, what have they done to you?_

When Angela began to pour a blue liquid onto Eragon's back, he winced and arched his back as it was so painful. "Arya talk to him," Selena said to her. Arya happily obliged. She lay down next to Eragon and stared at where his eyes would be behind the blinfold.

"Hey," she said simply. Eragon laughed, but then fell into a coughing fit. When it finally subsided he broke out into a smile.

"Hi… How are you doing?" Eragon asked. Arya realized she was doing horrible with the distract Eragon plan.

"I'm fine, but I do feel like throwing up." Arya said with a laugh. Eragon didn't laugh, which was wise on his part.

"That's normal I suppose. What are we going to name her?" Eragon asked smiling.

Arya scrunched up her eyebrows. She actually hadn't thought anything about that… at all. "I'm not really sure. I don't have experience with naming things."

"And you think I do?" Eragon asked incredulously but still smiling.

"At the moment? No not really. But have you thought of any?" Arya asked.

"Of course, but they all aren't very good," Eragon said honestly.

"Tell me one," Arya pressed; she saw that Angela was almost done healing his back.

"There was Danielle," Eragon said sheepishly.

Arya scoffed derisively, "That's not stupid! It's just not the right name."

"Is there a difference?" He asked. Arya smiled and said, "A big one."

"Alright," Angela announced, "His back is as good as it's gonna get for a while. We need too turn him over." The look on Eragon's face suggested that that wasn't a very good idea, but it was necessary. Eragon's teeth were clenched together so as to avoid the pain. With a single nod from Angela, Murtagh and Selena rolled Eragon over and onto his back. Instead of fear this time, it was total anger. She would rip the elves bit by bit for doing this to Eragon. His torso was covered with gashes, whip marks, and burn marks. Instead she looked at where Eragon's eyes should be behind the blindfold.

"What do we do about his blindness?" Arya asked.

Selena sighed, "Curing blindness in the first place is very difficult, but since he was whipped blind and it was imbued with magic, it will be nigh on impossible." Arya's heart fell, and she sat down hard next to Eragon. She vaguely felt a hand on her back that was loving and caring. "But," she heard Selena say and Arya snapped her head back to her. "I know of an elf that could help us."

Murtagh snorted, "I've said this before. In case you haven't noticed, we aren't on friendly terms with the elves, especially since Eragon killed their queen!"

Selena sighed once again and looked at Murtagh, "Murtagh, you are an idiot." Arya was shocked to hear a mother say that to her own son, but Murtagh only smiled and said, "I know."

Selena resumed while Angela healed Eragon. "There is an elf hidden near Carvahall whose name I shall not utter here, but he can be called Osthato Chetowä. He will most definitely be able to heal Eragon's blindness." Arya smiled and laughed in joy. Osthato Chetowä… Morning Sage in the ancient language. The name sounded _so_ familiar, yet so distant at the same time.

"Alrighty then!" Angela shouted to break the uncomfortable silence, "He's of course not fully healed, and you will be sore for the next week. But if you don't strain your body too much, your wounds won't break out again. Got it Blockhead?"

Eragon nodded tiredly but said nothing. "Eragon, when was the last time you slept?"

He thought about it a moment before replying, "I think it was about four weeks ago."

Arya eyes widened. She knew he didn't sleep often, but still. "Well you are going to sleep."

Eragon's eyes turned grave, "I can't, unless you want to wake up in the middle of the night repeatedly."

She rolled her eyes, "Eragon I'm pregnant. I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night screaming too." This elicited a laugh from Eragon, and he leaned back against a nearby tree. She saw in her peripheral vision that the other ten were promptly ignoring the two, and letting them have their privacy.

"Alright fine, I'll sleep, but on one condition." He said with a finger raised in the air.

"Oh, and what's that?"

"You have to sleep with me." Eragon said narrowing his eyebrows.

"Eragon, where have I slept for the past eighty-nine years?" Arya asked rhetorically. It took him a full five seconds to realize the total obvious.

"Oh, right yeah," Eragon said lowly. Sometimes males would act so male. Arya laughed and leaned back against the tree, leaning into Eragon as well. She didn't realize how tired she was.

"I love you," she said to Eragon, right before she fell asleep.

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

He smiled when he heard Arya say 'I love you' into his chest. In whole truth, he was overcome with joy with the fact that she as pregnant. Not that they were trying to get her pregnant, but it was a great outcome nonetheless. Over the years he had known Arya, she had always slept in his arms, but on the few occasions that he fell asleep as well, it did not turn out well. Eragon really hoped that he wouldn't have nightmares this time, but he wholly doubted it.

Giving one last look at the beautiful elf in his arms, he fell asleep.

It was all knew what was going to happen. When Eragon scarcely fell asleep, he usually went back to all the battles he had done. But that wasn't the worst part, no far from it. When he was dreaming, he always recalled the fact that he was in fact dreaming, and always tried to change it. Every time he failed.

_"Eragon, come on!" Murtagh shouted. It was Ilirea._

**A/N: Alright guys, next chapter will be a memory chapter, and I will probably put it up the second I finish because of the length of this one, yeah sorry about that. But remember to read The Hidden God!**


	15. Memory: The Battle for Ilirea, Part One

**A/N: Hello hello! This is my second Memory Chapter. Chapter 4 was my first and I tried another one but failed miserably. So here is my second try at a Memory Chapter. This is not Eragon's dream mentioned at the end of Chapter 14, this is the actual battle.**

**'**_You tortured an innocent little girl; you broke her so bad that she couldn't sleep alone that night, and she still can't. You hurt my little one, and for that, you can rot in Hell for the rest of eternity.'_** – **Eragon Shadeslayer. This quote gives me chills, and I made it up!

**And by the Circle of Circles Treaty, I recommend that you read The Hidden God.**

**Disclaimer: *SPINNING* *falls down and dies* Not mine**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

"Eragon, come on!" Murtagh shouted. At that precise moment a blast of light smashed next to his half-brother, and several layers of the wall caved in. At that moment the two of them were on the northern wall of Ilirea attacking the Forsworn with magic.

"Where's King Angrenost?!" Eragon shouted over the sounds of battle. King Angrenost was king of the Broddring Kingdom, but it didn't look like he was going to stay king for long. When Galbatorix and the remaining of his Forsworn started riding to Ilirea, Murtagh and Eragon told their mother and sister to go to Varnalond, and the two brothers raced to Ilirea as fast as possible. Somehow they had reached Ilirea before the Forsworn got there, and they were able to warn the city. The troops were immediately prepared, and Eragon called his old friend Evandar and requested reinforcements.

Unluckily his mate was there at the time, and she was fully against helping the humans, saying they weak and pathetic. Evandar ignored her words and prepared the elven army; they would be in Ilirea within the next day. Eragon himself had already killed one of the Forsworn, and Murtagh had killed two. The battle had been going on for the past week and a half, and the soldiers couldn't fight much longer. However, the Forsworn were not tiring very much due to Galbatorix's massive hoard of eldunari. One of the only things driving Eragon and Murtagh on was revenge. Both of them had lost their dragons by the hand of Galbatorix at the Battle of Doru Araeba.

But that wasn't all of it. Somehow Galbatorix had gathered humans as well to fight with him. Whether they were fighting of their own free will or not was unknown to them. But nonetheless, they had to be killed.

"He's in the citadel, he's wounded!" Murtagh shouted back.

_Dammit_, Eragon thought. King Angrenost was a noble and valiant leader, and he inspired great morale within the army. They usually would've gone back and healed him, but the two were probably some of the best spell casters defending Ilirea.

"Kialandí's heading your way!" Murtagh shouted. Eragon looked up, and sure enough, a purple dragon and an elf were riding straight towards him. The elf's purple blade was emitting some sort of dark light, black magic no doubt. The traitorous elf shouted something and a beam of purple light shot it's towards him, and right when it almost hit him, Eragon retaliated.

_Brisingr!_ Eragon cried within his mind. Holding his right palm forward, his Gedwey Ignasia glowed for only a hundredth of a second before a counter beam of blue fire hit the purple light. The two beams collided, and an explosion of colors between blue and purple came out where the magic met. The force of the magic pushed Eragon back and inch, and he was three feet away from the edge of the wall.

Kialandí however was not so lucky. Since he was on dragon back the force of the blast sent him reeling backwards through the air. The purple blade flew from the elf's hands and embedded itself in the ground below.

Aiming his right palm following where Kialandí was flying through the air, he used the area between his middle and ring finger as something of an aiming system. **(Like the 'Live long and prosper' thing on Star Trek the original series.)**

Shouting mentally and verbally, he cried, "BRISINGR!" And an enormous swirl of light shot from his hands and raced its way towards the evil elf. Even though Eragon had cast the spell himself, he couldn't help but be mesmerized by it. It was like a spring, yet of course it was entirely made of fire. It swirled through the air, burning anything in its path, which is to say air. When it reached Kialandí in half a second, it swirled around him forming a sphere, encasing him in the fire. All visibility was blocked within the sphere, and several thousand of men on both sides were staring at the ball.

It slowly began to get smaller, and smaller. And then it became even brighter than ever before, and Eragon had to shield his eyes. When the brightness faded and Eragon removed his arm from in front of his eyes, he saw that the sphere of fire was gone; instead, there was a hole that was black hovering right where the elf was. Eragon could see it clearly, but not because of the light, but because of the lack of light. It seemed as if it was sucking and drawing the light in. That wasn't the only thing. Men were beginning to slide unwillingly across the ground, and one man was even flung through the air and caught inside the black circle.

"Murtagh was is that thing?!" Eragon shouted. Just because people were being sucked towards the hole didn't mean nobody was fighting.

"I don't know, you created it!" Murtagh shouted back. Men all around were beginning to be brought off the ground and caught inside the hole. With a simple spell, most of their allies were able to resist the effects of the hole and stand their ground. Galbatorix took longer to find a spell, and it cost him another one of his Forsworn.

_If I created it, then I need to destroy it._

If it was created by fire, then it could be stopped by water. No, light couldn't even escape it's grasp. He cast the fire and it formed around Kialandí and it created a miniature sun. Wait… sun, that's it! The sun contains massive amounts of energy, and what he did must have created a miniature sun. And then when it collapsed in on itself all the energy was released and it somehow created this black hole. But how to counter it?

There couldn't be anything on the other side, or at least if there was you'd be dead before you got to it. From what Eragon saw was that when one of the men was sucked up, he was burned and his entire body was pulled and was shredded to pieces, and then those pieces were shredded. Then his entire being fell apart and turned into electrons and protons, so no going on the other side.

"Murtagh cover me!" Eragon shouted, and he turned around and delved deep into his own mind. The hole was created by a miniature sun caving in on itself, and then the energy expanded outwards to create this black hole. So what would happen if the black hole itself caved inwards…? "I got it!" Eragon shouted to Murtagh. His half-brother obviously what he meant, and Eragon went Blockhead. The black hole was getting bigger and bigger each time it sucked something in, and everything died right?

"Andrann du dath!" Eragon said while leaping towards the black hole. Age the hole! The only way to destroy a black hole is to let it die naturally, and of course magic was natural. It began to expand and expand, and all of this took place in the span of a tenth of a second. It reached dozens of miles high, and then Eragon could see it fade and flicker. It slowly, ever so slowly began to crumble in on itself, and it went from outside in. The outermost parts fell inward into the black hole, and so on and so on.

And finally so, the black hole caved in on itself, until it became a tiny speck of matter floating on the wind. Sighing in relief, he focused on the next problem. He was falling from the sky. The last time he had been in the sky like this was with _her_, but she had died and left him alone in the world, and now he lived for revenge. Right before he hit the ground he barked, "Letta!" He stopped an inch from the ground, his hair falling over his head and touching it.

Releasing the spell he dropped to the ground and stood up. Unsheathing his rider's sword Brisingr, he looked around for enemies. There were at least fifty thousand of the enemy, and seventy-five thousand of Ilirea. He began to run briskly, with his blade lightly dragged on the ground. Shouting a cry for revenge, he began to hack his way through the line of enemies.

Slash, duck, thrust, lean back, stab, spin, block, leap, stab. The motions went on and on. Eragon lost track of time, but then a booming voice echoed through out the air.

"Well done defenders of Ilirea, well done indeed. I honestly did not expect you to defend so well. And now as a reward, I offer you pity. I give you two days to treat your wounded, treat the sick, and rest. Two days." Galbatorix said with his magically amplified voice. And with his order, all of the enemy soldiers began to withdraw northwest, following the dragons in the sky. Reluctantly Galbatorix's two-legged followers followed after them, but much more slowly.

After the entire enemy army was half a mile away did the defenders of Ilirea begin to relax.

"Back to the city!" General Arnold shouted loud enough for enough to hear and repeat to the rest of the army. It took thirty minutes for the last of the army to retreat back inside the city, but Eragon remained. He stood watching the sun sink through the sky, and did not move until a hand rested on his shoulder.

Turning around he saw that it was Murtagh.

"Eragon, come on. Everyone's back inside the city." Murtagh told him. But Eragon didn't want to go back inside; he wanted revenge at the loss of his partner-of-mind-and-heart.

"Two days Murtagh," Eragon said.

"What?"

"Two days; I can't wait two days to get my revenge." Eragon said again.

"You are not going to provoke them into coming here! You will be risking the lives of thousands of men." Murtagh said forcefully.

"I'm not going to get them to come here; I just said I can't wait to get my revenge. Two days is far too long." Eragon replied.

"You don't have a choice brother, we have to wait, recuperate, and then defend again." Murtagh said.

Eragon scoffed, "What's the point, we aren't going to win this battle. Over a hundred dragon riders have already died defending Ilirea, and there are only twenty left. We are the only ones even on par with any of the Forsworn."

Murtagh shook his head, "You are right, we aren't going to win this battle, but I'm not going down without taking them with me."

Eragon smiled, "You and me both brother."

**Two hours later**

"They are outnumbered; they can't possibly hope to win!"

"Angrenost, with all –," Eragon began but was cut off.

"That's King Angrenost to you," the human king said.

Eragon narrowed his eyes. "I bow before no one, not even the king of the human nation."

King Angrenost growled but said nothing. Eragon continued, "Outnumbered they may be, but there are five of the Forsworn left, and then there's Galbatorix to add into factor. The Forsworn have already killed over a hundred of the dragon riders here, and there are only twenty left. The only ones who have killed a Forsworn are Murtagh and I."

"Eragon is right, whether you like it or not we need the help of the elves in this battle, and since we have been given a reprieve, which should allot them enough time to arrive. They should arrive tomorrow or the next day, and with the elves on our side, we will surely have a better chance at winning." Murtagh said.

King Angrenost nodded his head and with a wave of his hand, he dismissed them, not that he needed to anyway.

The two brothers walked through the palace, Brisingr at Eragon's side, and Arucane at Murtagh's. **(Arucane – Living Fire; I was not going to make Murtagh's sword mean 'Misery', I mean come on!)** All around you could hear the sounds of war; the grinding sound of blades sharpening, spears clanking against the ground, and the lack of men throughout the halls.

In silent consent, the two agreed to talk with the Elder Dragon, the oldest dragon alive to that day. Looking around to make sure no one was in sight, Eragon began to climb up one of the pillars in the servant's hall. No one but some of the oldest of dragon riders knew of this place, and even if they did, they had to be able to get up there of course.

Grabbing on to the invisible hand holds, he hauled himself up on the invisible platform. He waited for Murtagh to stand beside him before open the stone door that lay on the ceiling. Pulling it open, he ducked out of the way so it wouldn't knock him off, as that had happened to him once. When the door was finally open, he jumped up and grabbed onto the ledges that stood there for people to climb up. Using all of his upper body strength, he pulled himself up and rolled onto the floor above the ceiling.

Murtagh followed soon after, and they both stood up and approached the platform that held the largest eldunari in existence. It was a pure white, with absolutely no flaws in it, and it was beautiful. They both looked to each other and nodded their heads.

At the same time, they put their full palms on the stark white eldunari, and called for the dragon. This dragon's essence was not one of grief and sorrow like one who had lost their riders. It was more over of acceptance and knowledge about the world.

When the white dragon finally touched their conscious, he began to speak. _Murtagh and Eragon, lovely to speak with you again. Tell me, why have you called for me?_

Eragon smiled, he was always one for jokes. _We need help. You know Galbatorix and the rest of his Forsworn are attacking Ilirea?_

_ Yes I do_, the dragon responded.

_Eragon and I fear that we cannot win the battle, even with the help of the elves. They may be large in power, but they are small in number. _Murtagh said.

The ancient dragon sighed, _you will lose this battle, but… you have to fight in it. Even if you try to escape, you will fight in the battle. Do not surrender, they will fight you anyway._

Eragon snorted, _we figured as much._

_Anyway, _the Elder Dragon said ignoring Eragon's comment. _Thousands will die, but many more lives will be saved if you lose this battle. I know it is strange, but you must fight. The elves will arrive soon, and they shall help you._

_ Thank you_, Eragon and Murtagh said.

_Go hatchlings, and fight for Alagaesia. _He said.

_We will Bid'Daum, do not worry. _Eragon assured.

_And one last thing, you must hide me. Galbatorix will win this battle, and he will find me if you do not hide me. But I fear that that may be impossible. _

_What do you mean?_ Murtagh asked.

_You must destroy me. I have lived far too long, longer than any dragon or rider. It has been too long since I have seen Eragon, so destroy me. _Bid'Daum commanded.

Murtagh and Eragon looked at each other. They needed his intelligence, but they couldn't deny Bid'Daum his wish. They knew all to well what it was like to be separated from your dragon or rider, and Bid'Daum had been separated for thousands of years. They knew what they had to do.

Replacing both of their palms over the eldunari, they spoke. "Jierda!"

It cracked, and cracked, and cracked. Soon, the entire eldunari was covered in cracks, and they heard Bid'Daum speak his last words. _Thank you, half-breeds should not be treated the way they are today. They should not…_ And the eldunari shattered into thousands of pieces, yet none hit the two half-elves.

In the span of half a second, all of the shards were on the floor. Even though they were destroyed, it looked as if the entire room was a diamond mine.

"We can't just leave pieces of an eldunari for Galbatorix to steal, what do we do?" Murtagh asked.

"We gather them up." Eragon replied. Speaking the necessary words, all of the shards and dust of the eldunari flowed into the bag Murtagh was holding. It took a rough thirty seconds for all of the pieces to fall within the bag, and Murtagh pulled the drawstrings shut. The two immediately began to wards on the bag, strings, inside the bag, and on the pieces of the eldunari within the bag. After over a thousand words were put on it, and their voices raw, did they begin the descent to the hall.

In unspoken consent did the two begin to walk towards their temporary rooms. Eragon and Murtagh really didn't need rooms, as they hadn't slept a wink since their dragons were killed. And not once had Eragon even thought his dragon's name. On the inside, it felt like his soul was torn to pieces and then stomped on twenty times. Every time he saw something blue he couldn't help but see his dragon as well. He even couldn't even kill Enduriel's dragon which was a blue color. He had thanked Murtagh many a time when he managed to kill it, as its gender was eradicated during Du Namar Aurboda, or the Banishing of Names. You could easily tell how devastated the riders of the stupid dragons were at the loss of their dragon's minds. Eragon heard tell that it was worse than your dragon dying, but he didn't believe that. At least their dragon was alive, living and breathing, while his was rotting on Vroengard.

A shoulder on his hand brought him out of his reverie, "Relax Eragon, we need to go."

Eragon nodded dazedly and followed his brother to their room.

The Battle for Ilirea was far from over.

**A/N: This is Part 1 of the Battle for Ilirea! The chapter after this may or may not be Part 2, but I'm leaning towards it being part 2. And don't forget to read The Hidden God. *Breaks out in Lion Kings spoof song*  
**


	16. Memory: The Battle for Ilirea, Part Two

**A/N: The Battle for Ilirea, Part Two. Yes, here it is! I hope I haven't been keeping you guys waiting too long… That was a joke, I update every day. So anyways, do remember to read The Hidden God, it will be an amazing story! It's the ciiiiiircle of circles!**

**And some of you may recognize where I got A LOT of this battle from. Oh yes, I just watched that movie and read the book ;) Oh, and just to paint a nasty image in your mind, remember this…. Orcs reproducing, which is to say for you hatchlings **(Get it?) **ORC SEX!**

**Disclaimer: Since I died when I started twirling in a princess-like motion, I'll sing instead! Not mine.**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

It was midnight; the day after next the Forsworn would come back, and Eragon could finally have his revenge. Hearing Bid'Daum say that they would lose the battle was not surprising, but he didn't say whether Eragon and Murtagh would live or not. Not that he really cared, if he died he would be reunited with his dragon, and all would be peaceful.

But he had to wait a day and a half for his revenge. Revenge. It was the only reason he was living right now. _She_ wouldn't like that; she always told him to live on if she died, and find a purpose. And now he was pretty short of purposes here. If he was to honor his dragon's last request, then he had to find a reason to live.

And when night ended, and dawn came, he walked out of the room and towards the banquet hall. He didn't hear the sounds of war, and no one was in the halls, not even the servants.

Curious as to where they would be, he resumed his walk to the banquet hall. The banquet hall was on the lowest level on the citadel, so any lame **(It means crippled)** peoples would be able to dine there as well. As he got closer the hall, the sound of laughter could be heard in his ears.

_Laughter, who would be laughing?_ Eragon thought to himself.

So he quickened his pace towards the hall and he soon came upon a merry sight. Six long tables stretched across the entire hall, all of the unparallel to the head table where King Angrenost, his wife, and his children were seated. **(Like the Hogwarts Great Hall, but six tables.)** The entire hall was probably housing the entire city, and they were all drinking, eating, and telling stories and jokes. Eragon wondered why, when they were all going to die the next day, but then he realized. They were celebrating their life; they wanted to have at least one last happy moment in their lives with their family and friends. The entire concept made a tear roll down his cheek. _She_ was dead, his sister and mother were in Varnalond, and his only brother Murtagh was here with him.

A hand clasped his shoulder, but Eragon did nothing. He knew who it was very well.

"Yes Orik?" Eragon asked without turning around. You could easily tell it was a dwarf, because Eragon could feel the strain in his arm as he reached up to grasp his shoulder because he was so short.

"Argh, that is no way to treat an old friend Eragon." Orik said feigning hurt and anger.

"Ah come here you short clump of dwarf." Eragon said and turned around. Eragon had to lean down slightly to hug the dwarf, but he didn't care. Orik was one of his only friends in the world. In fact, besides four half-breeds in Varnalond, Eragon had only three friends. Orik, Evandar, and Jeod, who was an old friend of Brom's, were his only pure-blood friends. They were the only pure-bloods that knew what he really was actually, well, the only ones that he knew of.

"So Eragon Shadeslayer eh? How did you manage to kill a Shade, only Laetri and Irnstad the Rider killed a Shade? Granted Laetri was a half-elf and he did die right after he stabbed the Shade through the heart because the Shade killed him as well, but still. Should I bow down and kiss the ground before you?" Orik ended with heavy mirth in his voice.

"If you do I will kick your head and send you sprawling across this hall." Eragon said chuckling.

"That I have no doubt of my friend, no doubt indeed. Tell me, where is Murtagh?" Orik asked.

Eragon snorted, "Probably drinking his ass off."

Orik laughed, but it was soon cut off by a horn sounding in the distance. It was soft and melodious.

"That is no human horn." Eragon said.

"Open the gates!" Eragon heard a man shout. With a single nod from each other, they began to run through the halls to the entrance of the citadel. Eragon was running at a slower pace so as for Orik to be able to keep up with him.

"Is it the elves?" The dwarf asked while running.

"Who else could it be? We aren't expecting anyone else to come, and the elves were due to arrive around now anyway. And what other race would that horn sound like?" Eragon asked rhetorically.

Orik crumbled in dwarvish but Eragon didn't catch it.

Eragon and Orik soon arrived in the entrance hall, and they were immediately stunned. There were at least a thousand elves, all adorned in golden armor. But Eragon could see outside the gates that there were at least another ten thousand, if not more. Eragon was awestruck, but then he remembered that they would lose the battle, no matter the number.

Then Eragon sighted the one person he wanted to see; King Evandar. Walking forward slowly he stood in front of the elven king and nodded his head.

"Eragon… I am sorry for the loss of your dragon." Evandar said sorrowfully. Eragon knew he would say more, but in a private place. Evandar then turned to King Angrenost who had just marched into the room. "King Angrenost," Evandar said while twisting his hand over his sternum, a sign of respect.

"King Evandar, welcome to Ilirea, although I wish that we could meet under happier circumstances."

"That is my wish as well, but fate's cruel sense of humor has gotten in the way again." Evandar said darkly.

"As you may have been informed, Galbatorix has taken pity on us and gave us a two day respite. All of the wounded have been treated and are ready to fight, and we are grateful that we have another day to prepare," King Angrenost said.

"Yes that is indeed fortunate, although rather strange. From what I hear, it is unlike Galbatorix to offer pity on anybody, much less his enemies. Although from I do know he does not like to kill enemies without them putting up a fight," Evandar said voicing his opinions.

"Come King Evandar, let us have rejoiced, and for this may be the last merry meal we will ever have." King Angrenost responded. "As I am sure you remember, the banquet hall –".

He was interrupted by a loud and deep voice echoing throughout the city; Galbatorix. "It would seem that the elves have joined you. This is quite surprising, as the elves are cowards I expected them to hide from whence they came. And since you have called upon your allies, your respite is over. And Eragon Shadeslayer," all eyes in the hall turned to him. "It would seem that the loss of your father has driven you to do rash things. Do you know how I killed Brom? Of course you do, I did it right before your eyes. I killed after he so foolishly charged me after I killed his dragon. And oh yes, I nearly forgot; your dragon was a brave one indeed, jumping in front of the bolt just to save you. Do you remember her suffering? Oh how I basked in it. The death of the greedy –."

"SHUT UP!" Eragon shouted into the air, but he had now doubt that Galbatorix heard him. "Did you tell everyone _your_ story? About how stupid you were when you and your idiotic dragon ventured into the Spine and razed an entire village of innocent Ulgralgra to the ground? Your filthy excuse for a dragon GOT WHAT SHE DESERVED!" Eragon was seething now; how dare he insult _his_ dragon. He would kill Galbatorix.

"Then it would seem we have reached an impasse. You have lost your dragon, and I lost mine. Have you fully recovered? No doubt your mind and soul are in ruins; your very being is being consumed into nothing. It is quite amazing how -."

But Eragon silenced him again. "Hljödhr!" The Oath-breaker's voice was silenced. He turned to Evandar and said, "Prepare for war."

**Half an hour later**

Eragon was standing on the wall, watching the six dragons approach and the mass of forty thousand men. Their respite hadn't even lasted twenty four hours, but Eragon didn't care. At least he had a better chance to get his revenge. Galbatorix would die because of what he did to _her_.

All of the elves were lined up on the wall, and the humans were down below on ground level. Murtagh was on his left and Orik was on his right. Eragon noticed Orik attempting to peer over the edge, but was unable to due to his shortness. Taking pity on the dwarf, he grabbed a nearby box, lifted up the dwarf, and put the box under his feet. Orik didn't look very happy about it, but then nodded his thanks.

He could see the elves fidgeting uneasily. Eragon understood why. Elves were immortal and could be killed by a wound or by an incurable disease, and so they weren't used to being faced by death itself.

Eragon began to speak in the ancient language, "Show them no mercy, for you shall receive none! These are not men, nor elves, nor any other living species. These are monsters; now send these foul beasts back into the abyss!" And the entire group of the elves on the wall burst into cheers and Eragon shouted, "Arrows!" All of the elves drew their bows and nocked their arrows. "Aim!" The Forsworn and the men were closer now; maybe a tenth of a mile, but the elves could easily shoot that distance. When they were a twentieth of a mile away, did Eragon shout, "FIRE!"

A bombard of arrows flew threw the air and as most were aimed towards the Forsworn, most hit. But the ones that missed fell into the enemy army.

"Enough of the arrows! Come on, bring them to me!" Orik shouted. Eragon smiled at Orik's eagerness for battle. It wasn't the blood and death that the dwarf enjoyed, it was the thrill of the fight. The unknown outcome of weather or not you'll come out alive. Eragon did have to admit, it was rather thrilling. Of course, Eragon fought for revenge, while everyone else sought to maintain their freedom.

Eragon was using his bow and arrow as well, but taking his aim better. Instead of firing blindly in the direction of the Forsworn, he took his shots carefully.

He eyed a rider atop a green dragon, if it could be called a dragon, chanting something, and a dark green emitted from his Gedwey Ignasia, which he did not deserve. When Eragon saw the man's lips stop moving, a great, enormous ball of dark light, much like a Solar Eclipse, except the light surround the moon would've been green.

Eragon didn't know what it was in the first place, so he couldn't stop it. He watched as it hurled its way towards the wall at a probably one-hundred miles an hour. When the ball of dark light finally hit the wall, the entire world seemed to shine brightly, and Eragon did not have time to cover his eyes. An ear shattering BOOM shook the area, and when the horrible light faded, Eragon fell to his knees. The _entire_ north-west side of the wall was utterly decimated, and over a thousand elves dead, because of a single spell.

The elves fired even fast than before, and Eragon did as well. Orik had taken a lead and ran down the stairs to join the men in the courtyard, as did Murtagh. None of the Forsworn had fallen, and Eragon saw that the other four and Galbatorix were chanting the exact same spell that the green dragon rider had been chanting.

"RUN!" Eragon shouted, but it was too late. The balls of dark light were already hurtling their way towards the wall, angling at every single spot. The entire wall would be entirely destroyed. Using the last of his power, he did not jump back like the other elves did, he jumped forward, onto the other side of the city.

He contacted Murtagh with his mind, _Murtagh! The wall is destroyed… I am falling. I love you Murtagh, tell Angela and Mother I love them as well, and I will see them in the afterlife, if there is one. Goodbye brother, and one last thing. Run._

He vaguely heard in the back of his mind Murtagh shouting his name, but he shut off the connection just as he landed on the ground. The fall was a sixty foot drop, not one enough to kill him, but enough the damage his leg badly. He rolled to break his fall, and turned around to look at the wall. Large pieces of debris were falling from it, and Eragon's eyes widened. Picking himself off the ground, he began to run, or as best as he could, away from the wall. Pieces fell all around him, and it felt as if there were thousands of earthquakes happening at one time.

He covered his head with his hands and dodged a large piece of debris that would have fallen right on him. When Eragon deemed he was far away enough from all the debris, did he stop and turn around. He was not surprised to see the city aflame, and he could hear shouts and war cries in the city with his advanced hearing. However, he was surprised to see an elf limping slowly away from the carnage. He, for it most definitely was a he, was just out of range of the debris and was walking northeast.

Eragon took pity upon the elf, and began to run and limp at the same time towards him. He was even more surprised to see that it was Evandar.

"Evandar!" Eragon shouted to get his attention.

The elf king immediately looked towards him and smiled, and right after that he collapsed to the ground. Eragon rushed over to the elf and got on his knees before him.

"Evandar! Look at me!" Eragon shouted again. The elf looked straight at him and smiled.

"Eragon, so nice to see you. Now, before I die –."

"You won't die! I can heal you!" Eragon shouted crying.

"I just want you do one last thing for me…" Evandar sputtered weakly.

"Anything." Eragon said.

"Look over my little Arya for me, you have met her before. I have told her the same words I have told you. Watch over her, please, wiol eka." Evandar said.

Eragon swore in the ancient language, "Upon my word as a half-elf I shall watch over her." And then he died in his arms, and Eragon wept silently. But Eragon had a purpose to live again.

The half-elf buried the ancient king, and created a diamond tomb for him. Inscribing upon the grave, he wrote:

_Here lies the ancient elf; King Evandar,_

_Mate to Islanzadi Drottning, and father to Arya Drottningu._

_He had a respect for all life,_

_Even when others did not._

_May he lie here forever in peace,_

_Undisturbed, and in rest._

_May his name live on in glory._

Eragon wept, and then placed thousands and thousands of wards around the grave.

Eragon Shadeslayer was not seen again for the next seven years.

**A/N: And there it is! Hope you liked it! The epitaph was a little difficult to write, but I hope it was good. Galbatorix really is a bastard isn't he? And remember to read The Hidden God! Lion King spoof song!**


	17. Not the Beard!

**A/N: Thank you all for you feedback on my latest Memory Chapters: The Battle for Ilirea. In all honesty, I thought I did a pretty damn good job writing it. But now here we are, after **_**two whole days**_** of being away from a plot chapter, here we are. And by the Circle of Circles Treaty, I hereby recommend that you read The Hidden God, which is a great read! If you don't like this (Which, by the way, if you didn't like this story you wouldn't even be reading this chapter)… Well I imagine all of you like this so I won't say anything.**

**Disclaimer: It would appear I am rather good at singing like a princess. Not mine**

**A-R-Y-A**

It was probably a few hours before dawn, and Arya had just woken up. Thankfully it was not because of her pregnancy, but due to the fact that Eragon was shaking.

"Where's King Angrenost?!" Eragon suddenly shouted and Arya jumped. She looked at him to see why he was shouting, but he was still asleep and shuddering violently.

"Eragon! Eragon wake up!" Arya shouted shaking his shoulders, but he would not wake. "Help!" Arya shouted over her shoulder, and several people woke up and looked over in their direction. When they saw who she was leaning over, they all ran over. Murtagh arrived first.

"Arya, look at me. What did he just say?" Murtagh asked soothingly.

Arya was confused, why it would matter, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer me." Murtagh said forcefully.

"He shouted, 'Where's King Angrenost." Murtagh shut his eyes and began swearing violently. "What's the matter? What's wrong?" Arya asked.

"It's the Battle for Ilirea; he's going through it again." Selena said. "Go back to sleep," she said to everyone but Angela, Arya, and Murtagh. She could tell that they didn't wish to do so, as they wanted to be with their friend. "Sit down Arya," Selena commanded, and Arya complied and sat next to Eragon, their thighs touching.

Murtagh sat down right in front of Eragon and said, "He's in the citadel, he's wounded." Arya's eyebrows lowered in confusion; what was he talking about? Then after a few moments he spoke again, "Kialandí's heading your way." What in the world was he talking about?!

Eragon's head snapped up, as if seeing something that they weren't. Arya looked up as well, but saw nothing but trees. What was going on?!

"What is going on?!" Arya shouted, demanding answers.

"He is going through the Battle for Ilirea." Angela said.

"What do you mean?" Arya asked.

"He is dreaming the Battle for Ilirea. He is going through it again." Selena replied.

Arya was about to say something else, but Eragon raised his palm and shouted, "BRISINGR!" And an enormous swirl of light shot from his hand and hurled its way towards the trees. Just as it was about to hit a tree, a sudden cry of, "Adurna!" Stopped the swirl in its path. Arya was panting in fear now; nothing could happen right?

"Murtagh what is that thing?!" Eragon shouted, making Arya jump once again.

"I don't know, you created it," Murtagh said calmly. Then she realized the Murtagh was saying what he had told Eragon, and he was replying to him even though he was asleep.

"Murtagh cover me!" Eragon shouted. Arya wondered…

"Why does he need cover?" Arya asked.

"He was trying to think of a way to stop the black hole," Murtagh replied.

"Eragon created a black hole?!" Arya shouted incredulously. That was impossible; how in the world could he have created a black hole?!

"Yes, but it was an accident. He accidentally created a miniature sun which collapsed in on it, thus the black hole. But wait, he's about to speak," Murtagh said.

And no sooner had he said that, had Eragon shouted, "I got it!"

Asking the other three, mainly Murtagh as he was there. "So how did he stop the black hole?"

"Black holes have to die naturally, and magic is natural. He used magic to age the hole to its death that it was destroyed." Murtagh responded.

"Andrann du dath!" Eragon shouted. He had shouted 'age the hole', and Arya presumed it was the spell used to age the hole. "Letta," he barked.

"Alright, you can ask questions now." Murtagh said. "He won't be speaking for another hour or so."

Arya had so many questions, but she didn't know how do get them out. Finally she managed to get one question out. "Why?" It was weak and feeble, yet so large a question at the same time.

"Why what? Why does he go through these nightmares every time he goes to sleep? Why does he recount them over and over again until he tries to avoid sleep longer and longer each time? Why what?"

"I don't know… What is going on in his head right now?" Arya tried.

Murtagh took in a deep breath, and then launched into his explanation. "As of now, he is slaughtering the humans under Galbatorix's control. Not fighting, _slaughtering_. His revenge was so heavy at the time, and he killed over a thousand soldiers."

"And what about before?"

"We were defending Ilirea, and I had already killed two of the Forsworn, while Eragon had killed one. Eragon killed Kialandí as you know, and then stopped the black hole. But before all that, we had been fighting for a week and a half. Eragon and I were fine, even though we hadn't slept since the Battle of Doru Araeba."

And so for the next fifty five minutes did Arya ask questions. Twice she threw up. But when Murtagh said Eragon was about to begin again, her blood ran cold. And so they waited, and Arya was hugging Eragon fiercely now, refusing to let go of him.

"Eragon, come on. Everyone's back inside the city," Murtagh spoke. Even though Eragon's eyes were blindfolded, you could see the fear and anger on his face, even though his eyes were covered.

"Two days Murtagh," Eragon said.

"What?" Murtagh asked, although Arya knew that Murtagh knew what he was talking about.

"Two days; I can't wait two days to get my revenge." Eragon said again.

"You are not going to provoke them into coming here! You will be risking the lives of thousands of men." Murtagh said to Eragon.

"I'm not going to get them to come here; I just said I can't wait to get my revenge. Two days is far too long." Eragon replied. Arya was devastated; was he so hell-bent on revenge at the time that he didn't care if he lived or not?

"You don't have a choice brother, we have to wait, recuperate, and then defend again." Murtagh said.

Eragon scoffed in his sleep, although it sounded more like a grunt than anything else, "What's the point, we aren't going to win this battle. Over a hundred dragon riders have already died defending Ilirea, and there are only twenty left. We are the only ones even on par with any of the Forsworn."

Murtagh shook his head, "You are right, we aren't going to win this battle, but I'm not going down without taking them with me."

Eragon smiled in his sleep, "You and me both brother." Did they actually know they wouldn't win the battle yet they still fought? Either they were very foolish or very brave, probably both.

"And that's it for now Arya. Since he doesn't speak for the next two hours it shouldn't be too hard to wake him. Give it a shot." Murtagh said.

Her eyebrows furrowed, "How?"

Angela smirked, "Oh I don't know, maybe, KISS HIM?!" Arya covered her ears at the loudness of the herbalist's voice. "I heard it's a rather effective way of waking people up, unless you want me to kiss him?" Angela asked innocently.

"Go away Angela," Arya growled.

Angela 'hmphed' but complied, and then Murtagh and Selena walked away too, just to give her and Eragon some privacy. Moving from their original position against Eragon's chest, she made it eye level with him. He was restless in his sleep, and that only made Arya want to kill every person who harmed Eragon. She pulled his face to look at hers, and slowly inched forward. When her forehead was touching his, did she finally bring her mouth to his. She slowly, ever so slowly, moved her lips against his. Granted it isn't that easy to kiss a person when they are asleep, but when they wake up, it's totally worth it.

Eragon stirred slightly, and so Arya moved her head so it was on Eragon's shoulder. She smiled when Eragon wrapped an arm around her shoulders. In turn she scooted downwards so her head was over his beating and her left arm draped carelessly over his abdomen.

_Thump. _His heart was beating, and Arya found the noise strangely comforting. _Thump_. Arya closed her eyes, and focused solely on Eragon's heartbeat. _Thump_. It was such a warm sound, making her go into a deep sleep.

And then it hit her like a dragon. "Eragon!" She whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Put your hand over my stomach." He did so without hesitation. "Now reach out your mind towards the baby." Arya felt his confusion at first, but the anticipation. She felt Eragon's conscious brush against hers, and she realized that he wanted her to be with the baby as well. So she followed his trail, and he hesitated before entering the baby's mind.

_Go on, she won't bite._ Arya said teasingly.

And with Arya's words spoken, he reached into the baby's mind and stopped stone cold. She could feel his awe and joy. But most of all, it was pride. Proud that he had created a life with the woman he loved, proud that he was going to be a father soon. Arya entered both of their minds as well, and they sat there, as a family.

* * *

The night before may have been enjoyable, but it was nothing compared to the next day. Arya was not trying to comfort Eragon with their child's mind, she was simply basking in the fact with being with him. They were riding at full speed; twelve people and eight horses. They were riding north-west, heading towards the Spine for cover against the Varden, as of course, everybody was terrified of the Spine. The Spine may have haunting and gloomy, but that was no reason not to go in it or even fear speaking its name.

If you looked at the group of eight from a distance, you would see a cloud of dust moving on horses going fifty miles an hour. If you saw eight riders in general riding as fast as possible and they weren't bearing the Empire crest it was going to arouse suspicion. But they were risking it, as they hoped the Empire would be too busy fighting the Varden to gather up enough strength to kill them. They were a fearsome group, all hunched over on their horses and going as fast as possible would strike fear into any man's heart.

However, their one comical problem began when they reached a ditch. It was no ordinary ditch, but twenty feet across, probably about fifty feet deep and extending as far as the eyes could see. All of their horses neighed and skirted around.

"Should we use magic to cross?" Yarbog asked.

Yaela shook her head, "No, it would cost us strength we need. We should jump across. Any objections?"

No one spoke, and one by one they leaped across the ditch, then waiting for their magical horses to jump over as well. The last ones there were Kvistor, Arya, and Eragon.

Arya could see Kvistor was nervous about making the jump, even though half-breeds and elves could jump a large distance, it may not be so much due to the dwarvish in him.

"Would you like me to throw you?" Eragon offered.

Kvistor held up a hand and said, "Nobody tosses a dwarf." And then he ran forward and leaped. His jump was graceful yet stocky at the same time, and perhaps that is why he missed. His feet landed at the very edge of the ravine, and he lost his balance and was beginning to fall backward. Luckily Blodhgarm grabbed him by his beard. "Not the beard!" Kvistor shouted, but Blodhgarm hauled him up by the beard anyway.

Arya however was nervous about the jump. She could fairly easily make the jump, were she not pregnant. Eragon walked over and smiled.

"Not going to offer to toss me?" Arya asked coyly.

"Now would I want to toss you?" Eragon asked with a smile on his face. And before she could react he pulled her onto his back and leaped across the ditch, even though he was blind. The horses soon followed, and with a lot more grace than Kvistor had.

After everyone had lifted themselves up onto their respective horses, did Arya asked Eragon, "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"How did you grab me, jump across the ditch, and yet you're _blind_," Arya said incredulously.

Eragon laughed, but not at her. "It is quite easy. Sight can often hinder ones movement, while smells, feels, hears, and tastes often guide people better, even if they do not realized it."

Arya was surprised by his words, but said nothing about them.

All was quiet as they rode on, but the voices of Angela and Selena broke the silence.

"It won't work. Twelve people, six half-breeds traipsing across the countryside will attract too much attention," Angela said.

"I agree, we cannot all go to Carvahall." Selena said, and then announced to them all. "There has been a change of plans. We cannot all go to Carvahall without arousing suspicion. Only three can go, Eragon most definitely. Who else?"

Arya's hand shot into the air immediately, as did Angela's and Blodhgarm's.

Selena smiled, "Arya will go. But Blodhgarm, you are more wolf than animal, how do you expect to hide yourself?"

It was clear Blodhgarm had not thought of that, and his hand lowered. "Then Angela and Arya shall accompany Eragon to Carvahall."

"Wait!" Arya shouted. "Where will you go?"

"We will go back to Varnalond, and prepare for war," Selena said. And so Selena removed herself from Cadoc and walked and swung up on her father's horse. Angela, Arya, and Eragon were lined up on the north, while the rest were lined up on the south.

"Goodbye, I hope to see you three soon!" Selena shouted.

"You as well mother," Eragon said with a smile. Angela said nothing, but she presumed she was contacting everyone else with her mind.

And thirty seconds later, after several farewells from their friends, did they turn around and gallop south.

"Alright! Who wants to play a game on the road?"

**A/N: Not my best work, but it is a filler chapter. Anyway, be sure to read The Hidden God! The LOTR quote is really obvious in this chapter, but tell me what it is!**


	18. What Are They?

**A/N: LALA! Hellooo! We left off with our heroes Angela, Arya, and Eragon going to Carvahall to find Osthato Chetowa, and if you don't know who that is leave the Inheritance Cycle FanFiction…Now**

**So anyways, once again I tried to PM myself, it didn't work. And, and, and, and, you guys should go to my profile where I have three story starters going. If you want me to write one of the stories simply PM me and tell me which one. If you want me to write a different one simply PM me and give me a general idea of what the hell it's about. I will not write one until I finish Half-Breed.**

**And I decided to get rid of the mother and father thing, I grew up calling my parents mom and dad, not mother and father.**

**And so I would also like to welcome Elemental Dragon Slayer into the Circle of Circles Treaty! Remember to read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes!**

**Head Honcho – Yes, it was because he was magically chained.**

**Disclaimer: *Throat clogs up and I die*. Not mine.**

**A-R-Y-A**

A week, it had been one week of traveling with Angela and Eragon, and it wasn't the best experience she could have been through. Her only solace was Eragon, and it was him that she sought comfort with. Angela was Angela. Arya did not understand how Eragon could have lived with this woman for fifty years. She was, in all honesty, utterly annoying. She never stopped talking about nothing. From why fungus can harm bunny rabbits to ferocious wild hamsters this woman would not shut up.

They were on the western side of Leona Lake now, walking along its shores so as to avoid any Urgals that might be lurking in the Spine. Presently Angela was talking about what she as going to do with her niece when she was born. Currently she was at braiding her hair to make it look like a swan, where Eragon had to remind his sister that it was not her child, and that she should get her own.

Eragon was walking ahead, blindfolded too, while Angela and Arya were riding on Snowfire and Cadoc, following Eragon.

"Sooo," Angela said drawing out the word, "what are you going to name her?'

"We aren't going to name her Angela, that's for sure," Eragon said without looking back.

Angela crossed her arms and pouted, "There's nothing wrong with naming a child Angela, I mean, look at me!"

"I'd prefer not to, I don't like getting sick this early in the morning." Eragon said with a knowing smile.

"What would your parents say to that Eragon?" Arya scolded.  
"Mom would get onto me, while dad would praise me for thinking of such a wonderful comeback," Eragon said.

Angela growled but said nothing. A rumbling could be heard, and the smell of rain could be smelt through the air. Looking up she saw dark grey thunderclouds nearing them, and bright flashes could be seen occasionally in the clouds.

"Great," Eragon said sarcastically, "Anybody know a nice resting spot?" He said while turning around.

"There's probably a cave nearby nestled in the mountains," Arya said. In consent Arya moved Snowfire over to Eragon and he hauled himself up. The storm neared, and they began riding in a full-fledged gallop towards the Spine. The rain soon began to catch up with them, and in a few seconds they were soaked to the bone.

"There!" Angela shouted over the entourage of water. "A cave!"

Following the dim outline of Angela Arya steered Snowfire towards where Angela was pointing. Snowfire and Cadoc sensed a cave nearby as well, and they began to gallop faster and faster. They soon made it into the cave, realizing that it was large enough to fit several people and horses. Three two-legs and two horses fit well.

Eragon got off Snowfire first, sliding off his rear. Arya swung her leg around, and landed on the ground. With a simple spell everything was dry, from the horses, to her hair. She looked around the cave for no reason. She heard Angela say, "Brisingr!" And a burst of fire shot from her finger and landed on the cave floor. Instead of gusting out like she thought it would, it simply spread until it was two by one feet long.

_Magic_, Arya thought to herself. Untying her pack and bedroll from Snowfire's saddlebags she flapped the bedroll onto the ground. Sitting down on the bedroll she stared at the fire, ignoring the tiredness that washed over her. She looked up from the fire and saw that Eragon was walking deeper into the cave, and she shouted after him, "What are you doing?!"

"One does not simply walk into a cave without knowing its contents!" He shouted back, his voice echoing through the cave. She tried to get up and go after him, but a wave of nausea it her and she fell back down. Landing roughly on the ground like that did not brighten her mood, at all. So once again she consented to stare at the fire. All was peaceful, until her stomach growled. Angela raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

"I didn't know babies growl in their mother's womb," Angela said quirkily. Arya scrunched up her eyebrows and glared at her sister-in-law. "Oh, so it wasn't the baby," Angela said feigning surprise. "Would you like some food?"

"That would be most appreciated," Arya said still glaring at Angela, although not with anger.

"Okay!" The half-elf shouted and walked over to where the two bags where on the ground. She began muttering things to herself while she looked through the bags. "Apples with peppers, I think a pregnant woman would like that... Or corn with pickles, that sounds good for a pregnant lady."

Arya groaned, "Just get me something normal." Angela grumbled but tossed her an apple while she took an orange. Eragon's footsteps echoed from the depths of a cave, except he was running.

"You may want to see this," he said breathlessly. Angela stood up with ease, but Arya couldn't stand up without feeling like she was going to throw up. When she tried to stand up again, Eragon was there, but instead of helping her, he pushed her back down.

"Hey! I thought you'd help me!" Arya said.

"You are not coming with us, you are pregnant and can barely stand." Eragon commanded.

"But -"

"No buts, you are not coming." Eragon said sternly.

Arya did not want give in, but the look on Eragon's face was probably fiercer than hers was. "Fine," she grumbled. She looked away from him and stared at the fire. Eragon's hand grasped her chin and pulled her head towards his.

"Arya, I will be back, I promise." Eragon said, and then he brought his lips to hers. If Arya was nauseated before, she was fainting now. Their moved together, and she nearly cried when he pulled back. "I love you."

Arya smiled, "I love you too." Eragon began walking backwards so he could keep her in sight for as long as possible, but she knew he turned around when he could see her no longer.

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

"So what is it that you found?" Angela asked curiously.

He sighed before replying. "A skeleton. A very strange skeleton. It was in the shape of a human, but its bones are thicker, and it has a rusted sword lying next to its body.

"Is it an Urgal?" Angela asked.

Eragon shook his head, "No, it's not large enough to be an Urgal, but the bones are too thick for it to be a half-breed. But I'd say it's been there for at least a year, year and a half." Angela said nothing after that, and so the two walked on, guided by Eragon's blue werelight.

"How far in is -" But she was interrupted by the sound of metal scraping against wood, or as to say, a sword being drawn from its sheath. Angela drew out Albitr **(Tinkledeath!) **instead of her dwarven huthvir. Eragon pulled out Brisingr and lit it up mentally. Standing in front of them was a creature that was squat, broad, flat-nosed, and sallow-skinned, with a wide mouth and slanted eyes; it was a degraded and repulsive version of the Urgal. Its skin seemed to be a greenish hue, but you could hardly tell due to the filth and layer of grime on its body. It wore only a loincloth that was ripped and torn, but still covered his private areas.

"Goc ji foun?" The creature said. You could tell it was asking a question, but there was malice in the voice. This creature clearly wanted to kill the two. **(**Who are you?**)**

"I'm sorry...?" Eragon asked, for he did not understand its language.

"Who are you?" Spitted out the creature.

"Eragon Shadeslayer and Angela Albitr." Eragon said.

"Good, I like to know the names of the people I eat," the creature said. It appeared to be a cannibal. Eragon eyed the sword in its hand. It was curved but not in the way of the elves. It seemed to be more of a deathly curve than a graceful one. The creature looked at Angela first, and deemed her to be the weaker of the two. She was, but she was far stronger than the creature. It lunged for his sister, fangs bearing, and before the creature could even get within three feet of her, Eragon had slashed off its head. The creature fell to the ground, black blood leaking from its neck.

"Should we continue?" Eragon asked examining the dead creature.

"Should we? No. Will we? Yes."

Eragon smiled and stood up. He thought of wiping the black blood off on the creature's skin, but thought better of it when he saw all the grime and insects covering it. Eragon decided to keep his sword out, in case of more of these creatures.

They began to walk forward, albeit more cautiously and slowly. "Here is where I found it," Eragon whispered. He pointed towards the skeleton that lay on the ground, leaned up against the cave wall.

Angela bent down and examined the skeleton, as she was more skilled in anatomy than he. "His bones were nibbled on, but not by beaks like the Ra'zac. It looks like he was eaten by the creature you just killed. His eyes were gouged out and presumably eaten. Every single bone is cracked open and the marrow sucked out of them. If I guessed right this is the exact same type of creature you just killed. It eats more than just other races." Angela sighed.

"I'll contact Arya and tell her what's happening," Eragon said. Angela nodded but continued examining the creature.

Reaching out his mind back down the cave he pressed against her mind, but she was asleep. He left her a message in her mind for when she woke up. _Arya, Angela and I discovered a strange creature down the hallway. I killed it after it tried to eat Angela. It is not human nor any race in Alagaesia, including half-breeds. Do not worry, we are... Eragon and Angela. We're going deeper into the cave to find anything to determine what it is. Do not follow. I love you._

He pulled out of her mind and turned to Angela and said, "It is done."

"This creature has a horrid smell, and it comes from deeper into the cave." Angela explained.

"Let's go." Eragon said while holding his werelight above his head.

They began to walk further down the cave, until Angela stopped him. "We need to reach out our minds first." Eragon nodded and extended his mind down the cave, and no life forms were along the cave. However, when Eragon's mind reached a large opening, a surge of energy was propelled within his mind. He immediately withdrawed, and he felt Angela do the same. "What were those?" Angela asked.

"Only one way to find out."

**A/N: OK! Bad ending I know, but next chapter will be EPIC! Remember to read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes!**


	19. Humans and The Unknown Creatures

**A/N: Hellooo! Welcome to Chapter 19! We left off with Angela and Eragon exploring deeper into the cave to unravel its secrets. **

** By The Circle of Circles Treaty I hereby recommen****d that you read The Hidden God, written by Middleearthmidget! And Switching Lanes, written by Elemental Dragon Slayer!**

**And I forgot to put this in the last chapter. Since he was a Dragon Rider his vision was enhanced due to the...dragon...glowy...bleeding effect thing, but imagine his sight like Daredevil. He's using what Saphira used to enhance his vision.**

**And another thing. The creature that Eragon killed last chapter was not a spin-off of Gollum, as he is not broad, flat-nosed, or have a greenish skin color. GOLLUM'S EYES ARE A GIANT CUTE BLUE! Black blood, greenish skin, larger than human bones, slanted eyes, filth and grime on it's body... It's a FRIGGIN SPIN-OFF OF AN ORC!**

**Disclaimer:…I got nothing funny to put. Not mine**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

Even though he was blind, he could see rather well. Granted he could only see when sound waves echoed off of something, letting him see that particular object. So two half-breeds walking through a dank and gloomy cave tended to bout some noise. Everything had a bluish tint to it, and it reminded it all to well of when he looked through Saphira's eyes. He could see through the blindfold, and everything, _everything _blue glow to it. When they began to get closer and closer to the open shaft area, he began to see bright blue spots embedded in the walls. Some were small, while others were enormous.

When they reached to hole that led into a shaft, Angela gasped. Eragon looked at her and saw that she was looking down. Eragon followed her gaze and gasped as well. Even with his hindered vision he could still make out the bottomless pit in front of him. And a wooden stairwell descended as far as the eye could see, or whatever it was for Eragon. He looked above and saw that a stairwell led upwards as well, but the end was clearly in sight. And directly opposite them there was a lack of the blue glow, probably signifying that there was another cave or the like.

"It's a mine," Angela breathed. "Look at the walls."

Eragon did as she said, and saw once again the bright blue glows. "What are they?" Eragon asked.

"Diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, quartz, rubies, gold, all sorts. It's a mine," she repeated. _  
_

"All in one spot? That's unlikely," Eragon said.

"No, no it's not. I'm sure you know this already, but every single spot in the world contains a part of any material. And of course, if you know the correct spell, you can summon them. " Angela explained.

"But why need a mine if they can just use magic?"

"Probably because they either didn't have enough strength or they didn't know the right spell." Angela surmised. Eragon didn't think that was right, but he said nothing.

"What's over there?" He asked, pointing his flaming sword directly opposite them.

"It's an entrance way, and there looks to be a faint glow coming from inside. Probably moonlight." Angela guessed.

"Alright then, let's go see what's over there and head back to Arya," Eragon said. Angela agreed. The two began walking along the wooden walkway along the rock wall and glancing around, just in case if there was more of those creatures. The wood, for it felt like wood to him, creaked underneath their weight, and he was unsure if it would collapse beneath them and they would fall into the abyss. The worst part to factor was there were no handrails. Nothing to stop you from falling over the edge. Eragon wondered who would put precious gemstones over safety, but the greedy often had hindered thought processes.

They reached the entrance area without a problem, and Angela walked inside with Eragon walking backwards, making sure nothing followed them. Suddenly Eragon ran into Angela, and they both crashed to the floor, making a very loud echoing sound. Eragon rolled off his sister and held out a hand to help her up, while glancing out into the shaft warily. Angela grabbed his forearm and he hauled her up.

"What stopped you?" Eragon asked.

"The light, look at it." Angela instructed. Her glowing blue hand pointed upwards towards where a stunningly bright light was shining, and all of a sudden, Eragon couldn't see. True, he was already blind, but he could make out objects and his vision changed it into a blue glow, but now all he saw was black.

"I can't see," Eragon gasped out, unnerved by it.

"Well you are blind," Angela said matter-of-factly.

"No, I could somewhat see a minute ago, and everything was glowing a blue color. Now it's all black!" Eragon shouted frustrated. He didn't move in case he tripped on something.

"Wait..." Angela said in a thinking wait. All of a sudden, the fabric tied around his head and blocking his eyesight was removed. An enormously bright light came into his retinas, which forced him to close them tightly and put both of his arms in front of him. "Did you just see a bright light?"

"Bright...is sort of an understatement...in this situation..." Eragon grunted, trying to block out the light.

"Try and open your eyes again, but slower this time," Angela said. Eragon was reluctant to let the coruscating light reach him again, but the tone of his twin sisters voice made him do otherwise. He opened his eyes half a millimeter, and he kept going on and on until his eyes were fully opened. Eragon was absolutely astonished. His forearms that were in front of his eyes, he could see them. They weren't glowing the faint blue color, but he could actually see his arms. A multitude of scars covered them, but he paid them no heed. He was rejoicing in the fact that he could see again.

He began to move his forearms away from his face ever so slowly, and it took him a full five minutes to adjust to the lighting in the room. Eragon looked all around, as it was the first time he could see in a week. He basked in all the sights, even if they were rather strange.

"I can see." Eragon said breathlessly.

"Really? That's amazing, I wonder what sort of light that is...Maybe some sort of healing light, but I've never heard of such a thing." She continued to ramble on, while Eragon was casting his gaze around the room. Cobwebs were all around the room, but what struck him frightened were the skeletons that were in the room. They were all around the area, and they were coated with grime and dust. They must've been there for at least two hundred years. Weapons, shields, and armor surrounded most of the skeletons, while others had nothing covering them at all. There were two types of creatures in the room. One was most definitely the creature that he had just killed and the dead remains that were on the other side of the chasm. Then there were the other skeletons, who were obviously humans, considering their bones and height. It was obvious that the humans and the strange creatures were fighting each other.

"This is no mine, it is a tomb." And just as Eragon said that, a harsh cry echoed from the chasm, causing him to reel around and face the entrance. More cries, and the sound of sword being drawn from sheaths were heard outside, and the sound of feet pounding against wood reached his ears. Eragon and Angela faced each other, and then dashed forward to the shaft area. The noise was coming from below, and you could see the hoard of creatures running madly up the stairwell, fighting over each other to be the first in line.

"Run." And that was all that needed to be said. The two half-breeds immediately started backtracking their way towards the way to Arya and the horses, and Eragon let Angela take the lead. "Where's my bow?!" Eragon shouted amidst the echoing noise of feet on wood.

"With the horses!" Angela shouted back. "Use magic!"

Eragon consented, turned around and raised his right palm in the direction where the creatures were about the come across. "Brisingr un jierda!" Fire and break. The intention of his spell was to cast the creatures and the stairwell on fire, and then break beneath them. The flames stopped them in their path, but other behind them who did not see the flames couldn't stop their momentum, and ran into their 'comrades'. Then the stairs started breaking beneath them, and then cracked. This halted all of their progress, and then they began running backwards, deeper into the abyss. But they were too late. The falling of the stairs caught up with them, and they fell into the air. But the spell backfired, and it began to come towards the two of them as well. Flames first, and then the breaking.

"Come on Blockhead!" Angela shouted from above, and he saw that she was already at the cave exit. Turning around, he began to run as fast as he could around the shaft heading upwards. But the flames were faster, licking the wood and swiftly spreading towards him. He felt a burning sensation in his legs and chanced a looked down. His blue trousers were quickly catching fire, and the flames were already ahead of him. Eragon looked up again and saw the exit was thirty feet away and on the opposite side of the chasm. He had never attempted to jump thirty feet, but it was now or never. Still not stopping, he angled his body to the right and twisted sideways. His feet were on the wall for a fraction of a second before he pushed against the wall, launching himself into the air.

He twisted himself in the air so his torso was facing where the ground would be. His legs were burning, and the fire still hadn't been put out yet on his trousers. Eragon looked up once again, and saw that he was less than ten feet away from where Angela stood, ready to run. Landing with a bruise on his left shoulder he quickly stood up and faced Angela.

"Run!" She shouted once more, and began dashing off in the direction of Arya. He began to run as well, but pointed his right hand to his legs and said, "Brisingr letta." Fire stop. The flames immediately died out, and even though he was still not running as well as he could, he was still able to run without the flames on his legs.

Angela had slowed down enough for him to catch up with her. "Why are we running?"

"These creatures, they came from above as well," Angela explained.

Eragon swore, "Can you hold them off while I get Arya and the horses ready?"

Angela simply nodded and halted her movements. Eragon didn't look back once and raced ahead. He began to see a faint glow, and he realized it was the campfire that Angela had made.

It began getting brighter and brighter, until it was right in front of him. Arya was still asleep, if that was good or not, he wasn't sure, but he got on his knees and began shaking her awake.

"Arya wake up!" Eragon shouted. She stirred, and her eyes opened slightly, until they came upon sight of him. "Come on, we have to leave now!" She recognized the tone of his voice and tried to sit up but she was obviously to nauseas to do so. Instead of helping her, he put one arm under her knees and another under her back and lifted her up. She immediately moved from that position and wrapped her legs around his waist and put her head in the crook of his neck.

He walked her over to Snowfire and gently put her on the saddle and used some spare leather to tie her in it. While she was sitting dazedly in the saddle Eragon began to saddle Cadoc and strap the bags to the saddles on both horses. When he was satisfied that there was nothing more he could to do mask their presence, he stood up and faced the cavern.

Loud shrieking noises could be heard from the cave, and he soon saw Angela running in his direction, with the horrible noises coming from beside her. Eragon got up on Snowfire behind Arya, and waited for Angela. The woman ran up behind Cadoc and not breaking stride; put both hands on the top of his rear and pushed herself up.

Each of them drove their horses forward and out of the cave, where the thunderstorm had turned into a light drizzle.

When they were fully out of the cave, Eragon halfway turned his body and raised his palm towards the cave. "Jierda du stenr!" Break the stone! It didn't even take five seconds for the cave to crack, crumble, and then collapse, blocking entry or exit.

He sighed and finally looked forward, startled to see that the sun was rising. "A red sun rises; blood has been spilt this night."

And now, they had no need to go to Carvahall.

**A/N: HA! Two quotes this time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and fear not, the mysterious healing light shall be revealed soon! Remember to read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes!  
**


	20. Stage One

**A/N: HELLO! Welcome to Chapter 20! I finally have over 200 reviews! But… nothing. Hehe, and remember to check my profile and PM which story you want me to write after Half-Breed! And I will not apologize for not updating. I updated every day for 20 days straight, I deserved a break no? And I will not name names, but due who sent me a very angry message about how I was supposed to update every day...really man?  
**

**Krokodyl: Because they didn't have a cave troll**

** .9: '**Got to love the Circle of circles ;)'…. **I don't appreciate you saying that when you don't know what it is. It makes me sad T_T**

**And remember to read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes!**

**Disclaimer: Cookies' n 'cream pop tarts are the best! Mine? No**

**A-R-Y-A**

She was awake, and had just woken up to someone saying the words, "Draumr kopa." Even though Arya wanted to see what was happening, the effects of sleep were still on her.

"Mother," a woman's voice said; Angela. "Good news. It started raining horribly so the three of us camped inside of a nearby cave. Eragon went to explore it and when he came back he said there was a fossil. Eragon and I went to investigate and found that it wasn't a human, or any other race that we know of. We kept going until we got to a bottomless chasm that had all sorts of gemstones embedded in the walls. It was a mine, or as Eragon said, a tomb."

"A tomb? How so?" Arya heard Selena ask.

"There was a room on the other side of the chasm, and so Eragon and I went into it. Eragon looked at the light, and then he could all of a sudden see again. But I really want to go back and investigate it… Anyway, we were about to leave when these really strange and ugly creatures tried to kill and then eat us. Eragon destroyed the stairs, set them on fire and his pants as well, and then leaped off the wall. All in all, he is good under pressure."

"And then…?"

"Well, we began to run again because the ugly creatures came from above as well, so I held them off. All I really did was tell them about the importance of how fungus can affect mountain lions and their offspring. They actually found it interesting before one said, 'Ubij go.' **(Kill her) **And so we ran, Eragon collapsed the cave, and now here we are."

"And where are Eragon and Arya?" Selena asked.

Angela looked back at her, and then turned her head back to the mirror. "Eragon's sleeping with Arya in his arms, although Arya isn't asleep."

"And how is she, and my granddaughter?"

Angela angled the mirror so it was facing her. "I'm doing alright, and the baby is…" Arya trailed off and reached her mind towards her little girl. Arya felt a sense of comfort, and when she tried to identify the source, she found it was that she was with her mother and father. "She is happy," Arya said with a smile.

Selena smiled as well, "Good, I hope that she will stay that way."

Arya smiled and nodded in response, but then closed her eyes once again. It was then that she remembered that her small form was tucked against Eragon's body, his encasing hers. He had one arm wrapped protectively around her abdomen, and the other under her head she was using as a pillow. Arya herself was resting slightly on her back and on her side. Her right arm was under his right arm, which was the one over her stomach, and her left hand was intertwined with the hand of the arm upon which her head was resting. If a total stranger was looking at them, they would see a picture of love.

Arya began to doze off again, and her eyes shut tight.

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

Eragon was awoken by Arya squirming in his arms.

"Somethin' wrong?" Eragon asked tiredly.

"Yes!" Arya shouted, and it made Eragon jump slightly. "Get your hands off me you slime!" Eragon immediately removed his hands and slid back two feet, just for good measure.

Confused was an absolute understatement. "Er..."

"Get away from me! And to think I slept with you!" Arya shouted. Was he dreaming? Eragon most definitely was dreaming, but he decided to go with it.

"Arya, have I done somethi –" Eragon began, but was cut off rather rudely.

"Shut up! You're the reason I'm getting fat here!" Arya shouted. And a tinkling laugh came from behind Eragon. He turned around to see Angela rolling on the floor laughing **(get it?)**.

"What?!" Eragon shouted totally bewildered.

"Ah, it's started then! Clear off, blockhead," his sister said.

"Wait, what's started? What have I done?"

"Just get out of here, blockhead, or would you rather stick around? Just come back right away when I contact you, the next stage is even worse!" The herbalist said the last part gleefully. Wait, Arya was having pregnancy hormones, this early? Well, they were pregnant for roughly three and a half months so it did make sense. Slowly Eragon began backing out of the clearing, but Arya soon faced him.

"Where do you think you're going?!" The pregnant elf shouted.

"Umm, I was just going, to go relieve myself." Eragon said weakly.

"You can wait five minutes can't you?" Arya asked sternly.

"Why do I have to wait five minutes?" Eragon asked.

"Because I said so!" She shouted. Meanwhile Angela was on the ground laughing hysterically. Arya whipped around and began shout at Angela, while using this as a distraction, Eragon slipped out of the clearing. He began to walk at a brisk pace eastwards, towards the shores of Leona Lake. Soon enough, Eragon began to run, and his thoughts drifted to recent events. Creepy creatures that tried to eat him and his sister. That was strange. Killing Islanzadi. That was something he wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over. Being tortured…

His mind still hadn't taken that part in yet, but when it did, he would be a broken soul. When he escaped Uru'baen his mind was a mess, but he distracted himself with work. Raiding Empire convoys, killing Empire guards in southern cities, taking in contracts to kill Empire nobles, he did all sorts of those things just to weaken the Empire. He was at Leona Lake now, and a surge of memoires came to him.

Ready to take a dive little one? _Saphira asked._

You bet! _Eragon shouted back with excitement, and the amazing blue dragoness dived from the air and into the lake, creating a massive tidal wave to wade towards the shores._

Eragon looked at the exact spot where the two had dived into the lake, and he could practically see her diving into the water. But she was dead, and never again would she fly. Without waiting for the message from Angela he began to walk back to the clearing, anything to dispel the thoughts of _her_.

He was soon trekking through the dense forest, not unlike Du Weldenvarden. The foliage was thicker and wilder than the home of the elves, and less friendly of course. All those nights that he had snuck Arya out of her room were proof to that. All sorts of animals would look at them and not even flinch when he stepped on a twig or the like. But these woods were different. There were no animals to be heard besides birds and the occasional scuffling of a small quadruped animal. He soon was in shouting distance of the clearing, and he was genuinely surprised when no loud noises could be heard. Eragon slowly neared the edge and without even looking to see if something was going on, he walked into the clearing and sat down on his and Arya's bedroll. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Eragon?"

"Yes Arya?" He asked with his eyes still closed.

"I am sorry for shouting at you," Arya said.

Eragon smiled. "Its fine, you don't have to worry." Arya sat down on the ground next to him and put her head in his lap. Eragon smiled and began combing his hands through her hair gently. Over the past eighty-nine years he had done this precisely sixty five thousand and twelve times, which was twice a day. For some reason he had counted every time he did this and the number never left his head. He gently ran his hands through her hair, untangling it smoothly and ridding it of knots.

"Where do we go now?" Arya asked.

Eragon sighed, "Not Varnalond. Mother and the rest can go there, but I really don't think the council will like either of us being there at all. As a matter of fact, I don't know where we should go at all." Eragon was still running his hands through her beautiful ebony hair, and she seemed rather relaxed. After ten minutes of him massaging her hair did she lean up and laid her head on Eragon's heart. He looked down at her, and saw her ever swelling belly and her angelic face. Arya was staring right back at him, and then she scooted forward once more and her head was on his shoulder, much closer to him now.

Eragon continued once more. "Well for one, you are not going into combat." Arya began to protest, but she was silenced when he put three fingers over her mouth. "You are pregnant and you will not fight. Secondly, we need to find some place besides Varnalond to help with the defeat of the Empire."

"And what about the Varden?" Arya asked.

"We need to go to a city they have not taken, but not Feinster. I know that is there next target. Belatona or Teirm definitely. Dras Leona is filthy, and no place for a beautiful and pregnant elf. Belatona and Teirm are very hygienic, and either one is the place where we want to be. Which one strikes your fancy?"

Arya thought for a moment before answering, "I'm not sure. Let me think about it for a while."

And they lapsed into a comfortable silence, before Eragon asked, "Where is Angela?"

Arya shrugged. "Something about a bear with antlers." Eragon laughed and they became quiet once more. He reached out his mind towards his mate and his baby, and Arya let him in immediately.

_I love you little ones_.

**A/N: Ok, short I know but hey, I got writer's block. That should go away soon, but as usual, I like for my readers to have some sort of choice as to what will happen in the story. So, Teirm or Belatona? (**I'm for Teirm**) And chapter 21 or 22 will be a Memory Chapter, so also give me ideas for them. And I may have gotten Arya's mood swing wrong, but in all honesty, I have never been close to a pregnant woman before, and besides, if I was wrong (And I probably was), I could just say that elves mood swings are enhanced.  
**


	21. Memory: First Burning Plains, Part One

**Memory: First Battle of the Burning Plains, Part One**

**A/N: Memory Chapter here you go! In all honesty, as I am writing this right now, I still don't know what memory to do. Last time I did The Battle for Ilirea, and I got really good feedback on that, but yet again, I don't want to do The Battle of Doru Araeba. Grr…. This is too difficult! **

**Anyway, while I am subconsciously thinking on what memory to do, I'd like to answer a question.**

**Mr. Krokodyl asked me, "Ubij go"? Is it from Polish?" No, it is not Polish at all. ****As a matter of fact, it is from a language that I invented myself for my own original story. If you want to see it, just ask. (The language, not the story)**

**Disclaimer: AND I STILL HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF A MEMORY! Not friggin' mine. I am not in the mood.**

***FOUR HOURS LATER (Literally, four hours, like really)**

**HAHAHA! I GOT IT! I don't know who knows what the Burning Plains are…Okay, never mind, you'd be absolutely stupid not to know. I'm not doing the one Varden vs. Empire; I am doing the very first battle. It's called 'First Battle of the Burning Plains' and it's about how the Burning Plains came to be, so read and enjoy!**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

_Galbatorix_, Eragon thought, _will pay_. The Oath-Breaker currently was winging his way towards their location, well not _their_ location. A hundred or so wild dragons and two bonded dragons and their riders were currently waiting in an incredibly luscious field with amazingly green grass. That would all change soon. Eragon surmised that a near ten thousand of Galbatorix's brainwashed soldiers were under the Forsworn, and were marching fast. Murtagh, Eragon, Thorn, and Saphira were in the field, ready to fight against the Forsworn. Many famous dragons were ready to fight as well, including Miremel, Fundor, Lenora, Opheila, Iormungr, Vanilor, and his son Eridor. Presently, Saphira was with her father, along with her mate Thorn.

Eragon nearly laughed when he remembered when Saphira told her parents that she was mated with Thorn, and then Thorn had to meet the in-laws. Eragon had seen Thorn ready to face any foe, and not quail or flinch at all. But when he met Saphira I and Iormungr, he was as nervous as a cow in front of a hungry dragon. It was definitely a laughing matter then, but not now. They were not enjoying quality time or the like, but rather, they were reviewing battle tactics that would best aid them. Saphira I and Brom were on Vroengard, as a somewhat last resort. Angela and Selena were on Vroengard as well, awaiting word. Only a few riders at the moment in Alagaesia knew where the thirteen Forsworn and Galbatorix was presently, and that was Murtagh, Eragon, and Brom. Reinforcements weren't coming any time soon.

A horn sounded, and the soldiers were less than a mile away. "So it begins_,_" Eragon said to himself.

_Fly, fly! Take to the skies, and destroy these monsters! _Eridor shouted in all of their heads. Eridor, son of Vanilor and king of the wild dragons. Vanilor was the former king, but he passed on the "crown" the his son Eridor. And of course, the dwarf Orik was with them. Orik, one of his most trusted pure blooded friends, aside from Evandar. The dwarf seemed rather excited by the fact that two half-elves and one dwarf were about to face thousands. Granted they did have over a hundred dragons on their side, but they were the only two-leggeds there, and still, most of those ten-thousand would be focused on the three of them.

"Orik!" Eragon shouted to his friend, beckoning him over. The dwarf ran over and stopped before him.

"Yes Eragon?" Orik inquired.

"I know I have wards on you, but I want to be a bit more cautious. Murtagh and I have incredibly enhanced, well, everything, but you don't. I know dwarves are hellish mighty, but I want to place some enchantments on you," Eragon explained.

The dwarf became wary, "What kind of enchantments?"

"I can easily increase your speed, strength, sight, hearing, all of those things," Eragon said.

"I will be able to kill more men yes?"

"Yep," Eragon said casually.

"What are you waiting for?!" Roared the dwarf. Eragon smiled and began placing enchantments over the dwarf. Dragon sight, Kull strength, elf speed, but he did not increase his hearing. He figured Orik would not enjoy the clamor of battle amplified a hundred times over. Murtagh trotted over to the two and he hefted Arucane on his shoulder.

"Are you ready?" He asked. Eragon nodded, but Orik was more enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. The three of them then turned and faced the oncoming army, less than half a mile away. The three separated so that there was at least twenty feet between each of them, giving them a wide berth of chaos. A tenth of a mile away now; they began stringing their bows. Eragon himself grabbed his own half-elven bow that was slung around his back. The bow was stronger than any other races weapons, including elves. The arrow tips were made of brightsteel, and not a ward in the world could stop brightsteel.

He brought two arrows to the string, and pulled back. When the string reached the release, he targeted a soldier who looked important. He was the one of the only one on a horse, and he seemed to be shouting things to the others. _Probably a captain or general, but generals aren't usually on the front lines, _he thought.

_Saphira..._ He thought with a tint of sadness. _If anything goes wrong, know that I love you so much._

_Little one, nothing shall go awry. And you need not tell me, I already know. _Saphira said to him. The two shared all of their emotions, fear, anger, hurt, bloodlust.

_Good hunting Saphira_, he said to his beloved dragoness. _And be careful._

_You be careful_, Saphira joked... or maybe not. Eragon shook his head and aimed at his target once more. The man seemed to be wearing a twirling flame emblazoned on his armor, and Eragon wondered what it meant. Not bothering to dwell on it, he released both arrows, and they hit the man in a split second. One landed straight in his chest, and the other went through the man's mouth. Everyone was still for a full five seconds before a raucous war cry came from the army, and they charged towards the trio. The roar of over a hundred dragons belittled the opposing army. It was like the roar of a lion compared to a goldfish, which is to say, _loud_.

A good half of the dragons broke off from the others and flew to the ground below to decimate the two-leggeds. Saphira and Thorn among them. With a single nod to each of them, the three began to trot at a brisk pace towards the enemy soldiers.

Over the roar of wind in his ears, he heard Orik shout, "Come on! Bring your pretty face to my axe!" He shouted this just as the three of them were brought into the throng of soldiers. Eragon leaped over the arrows and spears directed his way, and shouted below him, "Jierda!" The spell did as he intended, and the earth below a good one hundred of the men split and it swallowed them up into the ground. He landed with his sword directed downwards, and Brisingr stabbed a man in the chest as he landed. He quickly pulled the sword out of the man's chest and twirled it around, killing everyone who was about to harm him.

Eragon turned and lunged forward, slashing away a spear aiming towards him and used the momentum to turn in a circle and lop off the man's head. Just as the man's head was separated from his body, and arrow whizzed towards him, right where the man's head had been. He quickly leaned to the side and watched the arrow's progress through the air. It hit another soldier dead in the chest. A roar sounded above him, and even though all the dragons had been roaring every since the battle started, this one was close.

He looked up to see the dragon Fundor, the dragon who fought a sea serpent, dive down towards the men and released a licking flame of gold fire, frying all of the men to a crisp. Eragon quickly fought his way out of the reach of the fire, and he heard Orik bashing in the men's skulls and yelling in dwarvish. More dragons dove from the sky, burning enemy soldiers. Quite a few dragons fought on the ground, wreaking havoc everywhere. The two-legged trio knew to stay clear of them, as they might get wounded in the cross-flame.

Once again another man on a horse struck his eye. He seemed to be wearing the cleanest of armor, and was only shouting and directing troops. And it made sense if he was the general considering he was near the back. But to Eragon, he was only a fourth of a mile away.

He parried a strike that would have taken off his head without looking. Of course, his wards would have stopped it, but he didn't want to waste his energy. He sheathed Brisingr and ran forward, killing all who stood in his way with magic. Using one of the twelve words of death, he quickly killed one man, and before he could even fall to the ground, Eragon jumped up onto his head, and launched himself into the air.

Eragon quickly grabbed his half-elven bow, and this time drew three arrows, but once again only put two on the string. The other he held in his hand against the bow itself. He turned the bow to the side and released the string while still in the air. They sailed through the air and one of the arrows landed in his chest. The other missed due to some wind, but Eragon was prepared for that. One arrow lodged itself in the general's chest, presumably his right lung. The other arrow barely missed due to the enormous wind pressure of a dragons' wings.

But Eragon was prepared for this, thus the third arrow. He didn't have enough time to draw back the string and aim, so as fast as he could he set the arrow in his left hand while setting his bow upon his back. He took the arrow from his left hand to his right hand. Five more feet left until he landed on the general. The general did not cry or say anything as Eragon landed upon the man's legs and stabbed the general through the head with his arrow. All of this happened in the span of twenty seconds. Before any could respond to his actions, he shoved the dead man off the horse **(Requiescat in pace bastardo)** and quickly mounted himself. He kicked the horse in it's ribs, although not unkindly. It was the first time since he began the battle that he took a look around the battlefield. The smell was horrid, and strange smokes were rising from the ground, creating an eerie look around the air. More dragon's were roaring, but not in anger, or a challenge of dominance, but of pain.

He looked around once again, and surrounding the battlefield were over fifty dead dragons. Fifty dead dragons in little over and hour, how could they win?

**A/N: Well... that's it. Today is 1/30/13, and the storm was pretty bad, thus the reason I did not post yesterday. It would appear my area has been cursed with horrid weather, but enough of that! Remember to read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes! **

**Oh, I almost forgot...BOOM! FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS! YAYAYAYAY!**


	22. I Made a Promise

**A/N: Wow, it's been awhile! HELLOOO! Sorry I am late (Understatement), but I… Don't really have an excuse besides writers block and lack of determination. And I have gotten hook on Lord of the Rings Online.**

**So anyway, I know some of the grammar in last chapter was messed up, but it wasn't my fault…mostly. I wasn't typing on my standard Word document. I was on the Doc Manager because I had chapter 21 saved on my computer at home and on the Doc Manager. I wasn't at home then, and nor was I in any place that had a computer that I could use. So gradually, out of a sheer desire to write, I whipped out my fancy iPhone 4 and got on the internet, and went to FanFiction. I began typing on my phone, on the Doc Manager, which as some of us may know that it does not correct grammar mistakes. Thankfully the iPhone automatically corrects spelling errors as well, but I just thought you should know.**

***Lion King Music in the background* It's the ciiiiiircle of circles! Remember to read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes!**

**And lastly, this is not a memory chapter because I got writer's block on Part 2, so I'll just say they lost the battle, and everyone but Thorn, Saphira, Eragon, Murtagh, and Orik died. Orik went to Ilirea to make sure it's safe, and Eragon and Murtagh followed the Forsworn to Doru Araeba.**

**Disclaimer: I will eat spinach right after I find out that Middle Earth exists and I find a magic unipegasus inside of the world and I kill and I eat its flesh. So basically I probably will be eating spinach for dinner tomorrow night. NOT MINE!**

**A-R-Y-A**

"Pick up the pace sis, we're almost there!" Angela shouted. Ever since… sometime, Angela had been calling her 'sis', short for sister. It had been two weeks since her first of many hormone episodes. Angela didn't mind it; on the contrary, the woman thought it was hilarious. Eragon said he didn't mind it either, but you could tell he wasn't particularly happy when he was healing a nasty bruise on his face. They had decided on traveling to Teirm, where it was most likely that they would be able to hide from the Varden and find a way to hinder the Empire's plans from there.

'There', would be described as Teirm, which was by the sea. The only time she had even seen the sea was when she had gotten onto the Talita, but she was asleep for the entire ride to Varnalond. But still, this was different. No islands, no sight of land anywhere on the horizon. But why was Angela telling her to pick up the pace? She was on a horse, that Eragon was steering…exactly.

She heard Eragon chuckle and then felt his warm breath against her ear. "Don't mind her. Day by day I continue to wonder how she is my sister."  
This instigated a laugh from Arya, and to a normal elf, one would look down on that. Between the age of twelve and twenty-one she was shunned by the rest of the elven population. A regular elf would hide their emotions behind a mask, not letting anybody see what was going on in their head, thus the reason humans thought the elves totally emotionless. Arya on the other hand, displayed her emotions, and even though they couldn't punish her for showing emotion, they still hated her for it. In those nine years her mother had beaten her several times, only many times to be stopped by some magical force, a being known as Eragon, or she got tired. Either way, Eragon always, always healed her to the fullest, so not even a scratch remained. One time when he had healed her so much that he lost almost all of his energy, and he fell unconscious. It was the first time she had seen him sleep, or whatever you could call it.

* * *

"There you go little one, good as new," Evan said. You could trace the total exhaustion in his voice.

"You don't need to call me little one anymore Evan, I'm a lot bigger than what I used to be. I'm seventeen now." Arya replied.

Evan smiled weakly, "Yeah I know, but you'll always be little to me." He slowly sat down ** the floor and leaned against the bed.

"Evan are you alright?" Arya asked kneeling down next to him.

He slowly nodded and said, "Yeah, just a little… tired…" And with that said his head slumped to the side and his whole body leaned to the right, in her direction. Quickly she sat down against the bed as well brought Evan's head on her lap, so he would be more comfortable. She gently ran her fingers through his brown hair. When she had first met him seven years previously, it had been black, but he had told her he liked it better brown. She had agreed.

This moment was the first time in history that she had seen him sleep, or something akin to it. He began the mutter incoherently, and she began to wonder if he was really asleep or not. It was only a few minutes before she realized something was wrong. At first, it appeared he'd been sleeping peacefully, but then sweat started to appear on his brow. His head turned quickly this way and that, breathing unevenly with a terrified look on his face.

Arya lifted his head out of her lap and onto a pillow and after watching for several more seconds, she began to shake him. "Evan!" she yelled. "EVAN!" She yelled louder and louder, but to no avail. She immediately wished he hadn't healed her. If he wasn't so tired surely she would have been able to wake him. She shook him and yelled at him but it was no use. All that happened was that his nightmares seemed to get more intense: he tossed and turned, groaning and moaning, his body shaking and his brow soaked in sweat.  
She realized that to wake him she'd have to enter his mind. Steeling herself, she stretched her mind out to his. As soon as she touched it, a terrible, all-consuming pain overcame her. Misery and heartbreak the like of which she had never felt. There were no words to describe the pain that was filling his mind.

After a few seconds she couldn't bare it any longer: she had to pull out. Ripping her mind away from his, she felt an immediate sense of relief, followed by a huge wave of terror: terror for Evan. He was in such pain, and yet there was nothing she could do to help him.

No. She thought. She couldn't leave him like this. Steeling herself, she extended her mind again to his.

The wall of pain hit her like a great wave: crushing and suffocating her; drowning her in misery. Doing her best not to lose herself, she tried to get through to him.

"Evan!" she yelled mentally. "Evan, wake up! Evan!"

She was dimly aware that she was crying: whether because of the pain she was feeling from Evan or because she was upset at him being so distressed she could not tell. All she knew was that she had to wake Evan up.

She shook him again and again, shouted at him physically and mentally, but he seemed totally absorbed in his terrible nightmare.

ERAGON'S NIGHTMARE

"Evandar!" Eragon shouted to get his attention.

The elf king immediately looked towards him and smiled, and right after that he collapsed to the ground. Eragon rushed over to the elf and got on his knees before him.

"Evandar, look at me!" Eragon shouted again. The elf looked straight at him and smiled.

"Eragon, so nice to see you. Now, before I die –."

"You won't die! I can heal you!" Eragon shouted crying.

"I just want you do one last thing for me…" Evandar sputtered weakly.

"Anything," Eragon said.

"Look over my little Arya for me, you have met her before. I have told her the same words I have told you. Watch over her, please, wiol eka." Evandar said.

The dream shifted. Eragon now saw Arya, the beautiful elven princess, young even by human standards. Her cheek was crimson red; she had obviously been slapped hard, or punched. Blood trickled down from her brow. Every inch of her body seemed to be battered and bruised. Who would do this?

With rising fury, Eragon realized it had been her own mother.

Arya was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. He had to help her, alleviate her pain; he would do anything...he had promised.

"How could you let this happen?" yelled Evandar, looking accusingly at Eragon. "You promised you would keep her safe!

And now Eragon began to see other things: things that he had never seen before.

Islanzadi was hitting Arya. Arya was falling to the ground. Arya tried to run out the door, but Islanzadi held her there, slamming the door repeatedly on the girl's body. Arya was crying on the floor, calling for her father...

Her father... he had promised her father...It was his fault...

Islanzadi was screaming at her daughter, telling her how she was a disgrace to her and how her father had been a fool...Arya was sobbing, shaking her head...

"No..." she kept saying. "No!"

No! Thought Eragon. He had to help her, he had to save her, he had promised, he couldn't let her be hurt...he'd promised, but he cared to...he loved her...

Islanzadi said something particularly insulting about Evandar, and Arya stood unsteadily, raising her hand...Islanzadi yelled in fury and shoved her back into the wall, and she crumpled to the floor...

"NO!"

Eragon had awoken in a cold sweat with Arya looking down on him.

"Evan, are you alright?!" Arya shouted.

"Just peachy," Eragon whispered. And before Arya could react, he put his left hand on the side of Arya's head and said lowly. "If Islanzadi ever hurts you, and I mean this, I will kill her. I made a promise to keep you safe, and I will keep that promise until my final breath."

Arya's eyes widened, but she said nothing. No doubt she had never seen a version of Eragon like this before; menacing and protecting.

With her eyes glistening with tears, she nodded her head slowly.

**A/N: Well that's over. I really apologize for the extremely late update, and once again, I have no excuse for it. Thanks to Middleearthmidget for writing a good 800 words of this chapter, and finally kicking my ass into gear to write the gorram thing. And I got a poll on my profile that you guys should vote on, SO GO AHEAD!  
**


	23. Author's Note (READ)

**A/N: Okay, hello. Sorry for those of you who thought this way a chapter, it is not a chapter as you can tell. I just wanted to inform that since I've put up all of these previews for the story that I am going to take the poll down and put it back up since you guys have a different perspective of how the story may work. I don't really need to put up a preview for ****_Arucane_**** or the LOTRxIC crossover. So I am putting the poll back up... SO VOTE AGAIN!**


	24. Bratona Gerome

**A/N: Hi, my name is John and I kill people for a living… READ THE CHAPTER! Ah screw it, read my résumé, sue me and then kill me, or try, because as they say 'In Soviet Russia, you do not build snowman, snowman build you.' I thought it was nice.**

**Remember to read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes, by Middleearthmidget and Elemental Dragon Slayer respectively.**

**So it would seem that Two Shades and Betrayed are the top ones being voted right now. Go you guys! So, if Betrayed gets the most votes by the time this story ends, I will write Betrayed. BUT FEAR NOT! My brother Ulderen has taken an interest in the story and he said he would write Two Shades if Betrayed won.**

**ON THAT MATTER. I am getting incredibly sick of people reviewing my previews and telling me that I should continue, BUT THEY DON'T VOTE ON MY POLL! VOTE ON MY POLL! And remember that you can choose two options.**

**Imagine the mercenaries as guys with Russian accents, and I know that the Triads are an underground Chinese mafia system, but it seemed awesome to put in here.**

**Disclaimer: But hey, I may not write either. The votes could come up at any time till this story ends. Not mine.**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

"For the last time Arya, you are not going." Eragon said forcefully.

"Why not?!" Arya practically shouted. She sounded like a child.

"Because you are pregnant, that's why. You are not going with me to meet corporate mercenaries while you are carrying a _child_." He explained for what seemed to be the fiftieth time, although it was actually the very first. Why didn't she understand that she couldn't go meet mercenaries while she was pregnant?

Angela thankfully walked into the room at that time. "Little brother's right. There's a big chance that this could go south, or north depending on which direction you're facing, but you won't be in harms way."

Eragon scowled at his sister. That really wasn't the best way to end an argument.

"And what happens if you die, and our child grows up fatherless?" Arya asked coldly.

Eragon slowly walked up to her and put his right hand on the side of her swollen belly, and his left on her right cheek. He slowly put out his words so his mate would understand him and what he meant. "If I die," Angela snorted. "If I die, then I will have died for you and for the baby. I will have died with love in my heart, no matter what happens. And besides," he continued in a lighter tone, "It's only a few men. How hard could it be?"

Very hard apparently.

* * *

His face was slammed against the wall. Well, it wasn't very hard at all. Getting beaten up wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. "Why are you here?" A man with a thick accent demanded.

"I told you," Eragon said with his face pressed up against the wooden wall. "I'm looking for Bratona Gerome."

"I do not believe you," another man said.

"How about this? Bratona is fifth in command on the Triad organization in Teirm. I need to speak with him." Eragon objected.

Silence for several moments ensued, until the same man replied, "Five minutes, no more." He felt himself be released against the wall, and when he turned around, he saw at least twenty men with bows and arrows pointed straight at him. _I guess he wasn't lying about the men hiding with bows._ He thought to himself.

Eragon sighed in relief as he leaned back against the wall, waiting patiently for Bratona to arrive. Fifteen minutes later, he heard shouting outside. "If this is a trap Marco, I will kill you myself!" One man shouted.

"I told you, this is no trap, he is heavily restrained!" A different man shouted back. The doors to the wooden warehouse slammed open and two men marched inside.

_If only they knew I could kill them without getting a scratch._

A new man that he knew was head of the Triads in Teirm walked up to him and scanned him up and down. Eragon was intelligent enough to transform his appearance to turn him into a more human-like appearance.

"I have been told that you wanted to speak with me?" Bratona said.

Eragon nodded his head. "That is correct."

Bratona waved his hand and began pacing in front of the restrained Eragon. "So why is that you interrupted my very busy day to come and speak with me?"

"I need to know where I can find the General of the Empire's army here in Teirm," Eragon said simply.

Bratona snorted. "You could ask a common peasant on the street that question and they would be able to tell you without hesitation, so why ask me?"

Eragon smirked, "Observant as ever Bratona."

The man smiled back, "That I am, and so, what else you want?"

"I want you to follow him, what he does at night, what tavern he goes, hell, which type of ale he drinks. Can you do this for me?" Eragon asked.

Bratona slowed down his pacing and scratched the stubble upon his chin absentmindedly. "You ask a great deal of me. Aye, I can arrange for one or two spies to follow him around, but still, that is not all you require of me is it?"

Eragon grinned once again. "No it isn't. Is there any possible way you can get me a job in the castle?"

Bratona stopped mid-pace and looked at Eragon for a full five seconds before saying, "Hmm, it can be arranged, but you need to give me a few days. Is there any way I can contact you?"

"We are staying at the Golden Globe inn, just come there, and that's where we will be," Eragon answered.

"_We? _Who is we? Is it your mother, because I am not going within fifty feet of that crazed woman?"

The half-elf chuckled, "No it isn't. Only my sister and another elf."

Bratona's eyebrows shot up and he asked, "An elf you say? May you introduce me to her sometime soon I hope?"

Bratona was always looking for someone to settle down with, elves in particular. Unknown to the popularity of Teirm, Bratona was a sort of a half breed. His mother was a half-breed who mated with a human. So he was ¼ half-elf. The man was about a hundred and thirty years old, but he only looked like he was in his late thirties.

"Sorry Bratona, but she's taken," Eragon said without any sense of sympathy for his friend.

"And who may this lucky person be? I may have to rip out his entrails." The man said.

Eragon grimaced slightly, but still answered nonetheless, "You're looking at him!"

"Huh, really? I never did think you'd settle down anytime soon. Well, then again, you are a hundred and fifty seven years old, it is _about time_! Congratulations."

"No, no, no, not a word from you Bratona, just do what I asked."

Bratona began to walk out the door saying, "You owe me." _Must our conversations always end with those words? _Eragon thought.

Sighing he shrugged himself out of his captors arms and began to walk towards the doors, his boots echoing against the floor.

_Twang!_

And before he had any time to react, a sharp pain hit him in his left shoulder, just above his heart.

"Dammit!" He shouted. Looking up since the arrow had hit him at a downward angle he saw a man cloaked in black with a bow that shimmered with some sort of dark magic, which was the reason it pierced his wards. Before the man had any time to react, Eragon broke the shaft from his body and covered his cloak over the wound, making sure no passerby's noticed the wound.

With his half-elf speed he began to run towards the Golden Globe inn. He skidded to a halt just outside of the door. Keeping his shaking hands in check, he opened the door and walked into the dimly lit tavern. To his estimation, it was roughly ten o'clock at night, so most of the residents in the inn were in the tavern, drinking their fat asses off. So he easily managed to walk past everybody without only a few noticing him.

In the back of the tavern he trudged up the stairs, trying not to groan as each step sent a wave of pain through his injured shoulder, although he had dealt with much, much more, it wasn't the most comfortable feeling in the world. Without warning to his mate or sister, he burst through the door, where Angela was in a rocking chair in the corner and Arya seemed to be fighting off sleep in the bed. When the door opened, both women were instantly alert, Albitr in Angela's hand and Arya's dagger in her hand.

When they both noticed that it was Eragon, not a random murderer preying on women in the middle of the night, they dropped their weapons. Arya was the first to get to him, even with her pregnancy.

He groaned in pain, and she instantly pulled away, looking on his body for any wounds. With his right hand, he tore off the cloak that rested over his left shoulder, and Arya gasped. What happened next he was not particularly expecting. A hard hand slapped his face, possible bruising.

"Get on the bed," Arya demanded.

Finally realizing how tired he was, he collapsed upon the bed on his back, and he saw Angela bent over his shoulder, inspecting the wound.

Before he fell asleep, he muttered one word.

"Ow."

**A/N: WOOT WOOT! Alrighty, that's that, and so review to your little hearts content. Remember to VOTE ON THE GORRAM POLL! And also remember that you can choose two choices, and also remember to read the previews first. Well, buh-bye!**


	25. Athelas Essence

**A/N: This is the first time in a while that I am writing the next chapter right after I posted it. Hmm, feels nice. You guys finally voted on my poll instead of reviewing and telling me to do the story. FINALLY! **

**Remember to read Da Hidded God eh? And Switching Lanes by Elemental Slayer of Funky Lookin' Dragons… Yup, got that right.**

**Also, I have yet to talk to Elemental Slayer of Funky Lookin' Dragons about this, but Middleearthmidget and I are looking to build a community, because in case you haven't noticed, or you've skipped this entire story to this chapter, we don't just do ExA, we import and export it. Literally. If you got a story you want to offer, feel free to offer.**

**And… I am pretty angry right now. Over night, I got ten new people who voted on my poll, ten people, about six hours. Coincidence? I think not. On that note, Gone From Here has been disqualified from the poll. One person is creating many fake accounts and voting for it, SO SCREW WHO IT IS!**

**On a happier note, Middleearthmidget, Elemental Slayer of Funky Lookin' Dragons, and I have created a community for all those lost folks out there looking for some ExA action. Take a peek… After this chapter of course.**

**Disclaimer, sort've: So it's looking to be Two Shades as of now, which is totally fine by me. I was looking towards Betrayed, but that's alright, I'll do that one next. This is mine, loser CP ain't. **

**A-R-Y-A**

Fighting sleep was not easy, especially with a baby inside of you wanting out and kicking you nonstop. It was sweet, but slightly annoying nonetheless. She heard loud steps from outside the door and on the stairs, but it couldn't be Eragon; he was a half-elf, thus much quieter. The steps stopped outside of their door, but once again, she discarded it as there was a room directly opposite them.

_BAM!_ The door practically flew off its hinges and she leapt up, as hard as it was, with a dagger in hand.

It was Eragon.

As fast as her pregnancy would allow it, she somehow managed to run over to him, hugging him to her as tightly as she could without crushing the small life inside if her. As soon as she touched him, he tensed up, which was unusual whenever she touched him. Standing back, she around on his body for injuries. When she found none, Eragon ripped off the cloak covering his left shoulder, and lo and behold, and arrow shaft was sticking out of his body.

Of _course_ he had to get into trouble, who else would? She brought her hand back and slapped him across the face and then said, "Get on the bed."

He all too willingly complied, and collapsed on his back on the bed. Angela knelt over her twin brother while pulling supplies from her pack.

"Holy Basil, Ginger, St. John's Wort…" The Herbalist continued to mutter under her breath as she pulled herbs and things from her pack. Arya sat down on a chair next to Eragon as Angela crushed herbs together and mixed it with water. When she finally seemed done, there were three cups. One of them reeking of cinnamon.

Angela turned around and handed her one of the cups that smelled like Ginger.

"Here, drink this. It will help your pregnancy and ease your worries," she commanded her.

Without hesitation she took the cup and swallowed it in one gulp. Despite its mixed ingredients, it was delicious.

"So," Arya said after swallowing the cups contents. "What are you going to give Eragon?"

The half-elf sighed. "Magic isn't working on healing him for some reason. Probably dark magic of some sort; so, we have to resort to good ole healing herbs. So this may be a while, and you're already as exhausted as it is. Get some sleep; I'll wake you when he wakes up.

Arya slowly nodded her head before slumping down on the large bed, a good foot away from Eragon, just in case.

**A-N-G-E-L-A**** A/N: Sorry guys, but I HAD to take this from LotRO.**

Dipping two of her fingers in the bowl that contained the Steeped Athelas Essence, she pulled them out, making sure to drag it through the essence before doing so. Tearing part of her brother's shirt where the wound was, she put her two fingers down and rubbed the paste of the wound. Athelas restores one's health, but a person usually swallows a salve from a flask, but she knew Eragon wasn't exactly in the swallowing mood as of now.

**(Think guacamole, just not as ugly, a pure green color)**

The paste was supposed to harden over the wound, draining any possible infection and sucking out the dark magic that was in the wound. Athelas, or Kingsfoil as known to a few humans, was a weed. Most just thought it was a simple weed, for it grew in gardens and so they used clippers to kill them. But smart herbalists, such as… knew that Athelas can easily be derived and drained from weeds, mixed with water, and voila, a salve has been created.

There were eight kinds of Athelas essences, lesser, simple, greater, refined, distilled, infused, pure, and steeped. Steeped was the highest level, as such the reason she used it on Eragon.

When the paste was hard and dry, she grabbed the bowl that had the cinnamon mixed with Holy Basil and water. Gently, ever so gently, did she pour the drink over the paste. It was actually a good drink, if you could stomach it, but the purpose in this case was to destroy all of the harmful things that the Athelas had gathered up. Thus, no more bad stuffs in Eragon's body. She was just too good, ah well, some things couldn't be helped.

But her peaceful mind soon drifted off to the day she had given Eragon his fortune. She knew she would regret it, but he asked, and now she knew he regretted it as well.

_"This is the first time I have ever seen it come up in someone's future. Most of the time it's the aspen or the elm, both signs (__**a circle resting on a long line**__) that a person will live a normal span of years. Whether this means that you will live forever or that you will only have an extraordinarily long life, I'm not sure. Whatever it foretells, you may be sure that many years lie ahead of you._

_"Now the bones grow harder to read, as the rest are in a confused pile._

_"Here the wandering path, lightning bolt, and sailing ship all lie together - a pattern I've never seen, only heard of. The__wandering path__shows that there are many choices in your future, some of which you face even now. I see great battles raging around you, some of them fought for your sake. I see the mighty powers of this land struggling to control your will and destiny. Countless possible futures await you - all of them filled with blood and conflict - but only one will bring you happiness and peace. Beware of losing your way, for you are one of the few who are truly free to choose their own fate. That freedom is a gift, but it is also a responsibility more binding than chains._

_"And yet, as if to counteract that, here is the__lightning bolt__. It is a terrible omen. There is a doom upon you, but of what sort I know not. Part of it lies in a death - one that rapidly approaches and will cause you much grief. But the rest waits in a great journey._

_"Look closely at this bone. You can see how its end rests on that of the__sailing ship__. That is impossible to misunderstand. Your fate will be to leave this land forever. Where you will end up I know not but you will never again stand in Alagaesia.__This is inescapable. It will come to pass even if you try to avoid it. _

_"The next bone (a__**rose between the arms of a crescent moon**__) is easier to read and perhaps a bit more pleasant. An epic romance is in your future, extraordinary, as the moon indicates - for that is the magical symbol - strong enough to outlast empires. Your love shall be of noble birth and heritage, for she is not alive as of yet. She is wise, power, and beautiful beyond compare. I can however, for certain, tell that this passion will end in happiness and love, and it shall last forever, even in death._

_"Now for the last two bones, the__tree and the hawthorn root__, which crosses each other strongly. I wish that this were not so - it can only mean more trouble - but betrayal is clear. And it will come from within our family! You shouldn't fret about what has yet to occur…" She fell out of her vision-like aura, and looked at Eragon who was shocked into disbelief. "I… I do not know what to say Eragon, I am sorry I should not have done –"_

_ "No! No, the fault is on me. I asked, and you are not allowed to stop someone who asks," Eragon said. Before she could say anything, he stood up and walked from her room. _

She most definitely did regret it now, for Saphira was dead, Morzan betrayed the family, and everything else occurred. Although, Arya was one of the good things that came into his life.

At the moment, besides the fact that Eragon was lying with a wounded shoulder, they were in the Empire, and Arya was pregnant, all was peaceful. That all changed when they went downstairs the next morning.

**A/N: YOOHOO! Finally! It is finished, sorry for the long wait, but hey, I'M ON SPRING BREAK! Hehe, who doesn't love spring break? Ah well, can anyone guess what the bad news will be? **

**Added to that, remember to check out the community, and vote on the poll. I decided to stop Gone From Here, and then put it back up, just for good measure. And I think that's about it, BYE!**


	26. He Is Coming

**A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHA! …Don't know why I did that at all really. MWAHAHAHA! *Sigh* I'm gonna keep this short, but I don't want to beat around the dragon on this one. And if you aren't reading this right now, this may get your attention. READ THIS RIGHT NOW! IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT, POSSIBLY MORE THAN THE THIRD IRON MAN MOVIE!**

**Half Breed is ending soon, yup, the story is almost over! Then I can start writing whatever wins the poll! I am estimating up to thirty chapters and about 70k+ words, so the words are numbered. You will soon find out why.**

**And, the poll will be taken down the day after the last chapter comes out, so everyone has a chance to read it and vote if you haven't.**

**Read Hidden God by my good friend Middleearthmidget, and Switching Lanes, by Elemental Slayer of Funky Lookin' Dragons. Look on our community as well.**

**Disclaimer: I am sooo not in the mood, NOT ME'S!**

**E-R-A-G-O-N**

"Yoo hoo! Wakey wakey sleepypants!" A certain annoying witch's voice was what aroused him from his sleep. He rolled over on his side only to find it blocked a lot of black hair.

"Ah!" He shouted backing up, slightly startled at the sight. His shouting woke Arya up from her slumber, and he could tell she was about to go back to sleep, until her eyes fell on him. She immediately sat up as fast as her pregnant belly would allow, and faster than light can possibly travel, her hand connected with his cheek.

"Didn't I tell you not to get hurt?!"

"Well I –"

"And what did you do when you went out?!"

"It wasn't my –"

"You got shot by some magical arrow!"

"Arya!" He said forcefully, "It was not my fault! I have a lot of enemies in Alagaesia… And I _still_ owe Rhunon a pair of knives," he added in an undertone. "Never mind, the point is that it could've been anybody who recognized me, and then shot me. No big deal… well mostly. After all he could be a pirate from another land looking to harm a not-so-innocent soul, or a Reaver! Nasty things they are, you don't even want me to go into detail with those things."

He stopped when he realized when he was getting off track and sounding _far_ too much like Angela. But right when Arya was about to say something, a knock sounded on the door. Eragon grabbed Brisingr from the table in the corner, while also sitting Arya down behind the bed, much to her displeasure.

Leaning against the door, he used a voice much unlike his own, so he wouldn't be recognized.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"Eragon? Are you using the stupid accent again? Teirm didn't like it a hundred and twenty years ago, and I highly doubt they still do!" A man on the other side shouted through the door.

With a smirk on his face, he pulled the door open to reveal Bratona with a grim smile upon his face.

"What is wrong?" Eragon asked.

"I myself do not know, but it is not pleasant. Bartolommeo, my spy for the General, has heard that he his near the front of the citadel, shouting something out to the commoners. He's either explaining something, or trying to ease a riot. Whatever it is, it's bad."

Taking that as a signal to follow Bratona to where the citadel leaded, he heard Arya ask, "So who is this man?"

"He is somewhat related to me. Brom's father's brother married and gave birth to Bratona's aunt, so I don't really know how he is related to me, but I always get a headache when I try to figure out. But we aren't related by blood."

"I see, am I coming with you to the citadel?"

Eragon though on it for a moment. Would she be safe if he had enemies around, better be safe than sorry.

"Bratona," he called out.

"Yes Eragon?"

"How many men do you have under your control?"

"I'd say nigh on three hundred, why do you ask?"

He smiled, "I'm gonna need protection for her." He pointed to Arya, and Bratona's eyes widened.

"Barzul!" Bratona swore. "By Guntera's large ass you didn't tell me she was pregnant? Or is she just fat?" It took a full two seconds for Arya to process what Bratona had just said, and took the full might of Angela to hold her back so she wouldn't rip Bratona to shreds.

"No Bratona, she isn't fat, she _is_ pregnant," Eragon explained with his arms crossed and looking at Arya attempting to escape Angela's vice-like grip. It was much better when Arya's pregnancy hormones weren't directed at him.

"I'm gonna rip out your spine, wrap it around your neck, and strangle you with it! And then with your dead body, I'll feed it to a Nidhwal, who will then poop it out into the ocean, where a giant shark will eat you until your entire ancestry forgets about you!" And so it went on and on again until Arya ran out of breath.

"Um, right, I think we need to go now. My spy is getting impatient and he is saying it's urgent…" Bratona said uncomfortable with Arya's tirade.

And so without another word from Arya, thanks to Angela for that, they ever so quietly walked stepped out of the room. Just to be cautious, they decided to go down the stairs separately. Angela and Arya would go down the stairs first, and then Bratona and Eragon, and they would all meet up twenty feet to the left of the entrance to the Golden Globe.

Eragon peeked around the corner to see a human looking Arya and Angela walking down the stairs, Angela leading with Arya behind her. When the two women disappeared from view, Eragon and Bratona waited for a full five minutes and thirty seven seconds before going down the stairs at the pace of a human male, which is to say, jogging down the stairs. Bratona and Eragon pushed through the crowded throng of reeking human beings. For once in his life he was not happy at the size of something. Twice the two of them had to avoid harlots and whores. Eragon had to pull Bratona away from a group of two that he began staring at.

They finally made it out of the in with Eragon dragging Bratona by the collar of his tunic. He unceremoniously dropped Bratona to the ground, and looked to his left. There, Arya and Angela were standing impressively inconspicuous. They seemed to be looking at a jewelry cart, but every now and then you could tell that two occasionally flicked their eyes in the direction of the entrance to the Golden Globe.

Angela turned when she caught sight of the two of them, and tapped Arya twice on the elbow. Arya turned as well, and you could see the curiosity in her eyes as to why Bratona was lying on the ground. After thanking the vendor for his time, the two women began to walk back to the two men, one of whom was still on the ground.

"Why is Bratona on the ground?" Arya asked peering at the man who was sobbing uncontrollably on the ground.

"He thinks he lost his chance at his one true love to some prostitute. It's sad yet quite hilarious at the same time," Eragon said staring at Bratona who was sobbing and muttering incoherently.

"Bratona get up," he said nudging the man with his foot.

He said something even Eragon's half-elf hearing couldn't hear. He heard Angela sigh behind him.

_And without any preemptive warning whatsoever_, Angela bent over and kissed Bratona full on the lips. Eragon saw Arya's eyes widen half an inch and her mouth open in shock. Eragon however, cocked his head, raised his eyebrows, and gaped at the sight before him. Although he was sure Angela had no romantic feelings for anyone that he knew of, he was quite sure that she had none for Bratona Gerome.

After a full ten seconds of kissing, Angela stood straight up once again and walked back to the shocked mated pair.

"What? Someone had to get him up, and I don't think Eragon would appreciate if Arya kissed him."

At this Eragon gave Angela a knowing look.

When Eragon looked down at where Bratona was, he found that he was gone, and was standing next to Angela, smiling ear to ear.

"Come! Let us be off!" Bratona said gleefully. He was a changed man now.

The four of them began to walk towards the citadel, through the city built for defense.

"Since when has the King ever cared about us lowly commoners?!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Why would he do such a thing?!"

These were the shouts and cries that the four of them heard as they entered the square in front of the citadel. Eragon was quite sure that he wasn't the only one wondering what was going on. Pushing through the crowd, he let Bratona lead the way since he was a bull of a man. Eventually they made it to near the front of the crowd, where the General and a near fifty number of troops were standing near the General. The words that were said next shook them to their very marrow in their bones.

The General cried out, "I have said it before, and this is the last time I shall repeat! Your mighty King Galbatorix is coming to Teirm!"

**A/N: And now you see why this story is ending soon… remember to vote on the poll, check out the community, read The Hidden God and Switching Lanes!**


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